India’s Vegetable Oil Import Dips 1% In First 9 Months Of Current Oil Year

Marking a slight decrease of 1 per cent compared to last year, India’s overall import of vegetable oils during the first nine months of the current oil year (November 2023 to July 2024) stood at 121.24 lakh tonne, according to the data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. The total import of vegetable oil in July 2024 amounted to 18.95 lakh tonne, witnessing a 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase.

The import of edible oils in July 2024 stood at 18.40 lakh tonne, higher than 17.55 lakh tonne in July 2023. The import of edible oil for the first nine months of the oil year ending October 2024 was at 119.35 lakh tonne, slightly lower than 121.22 lakh tonne during the same period in the last oil year.

As far as the non-edible oil import is concerned, India imported 1.88 lakh tonne during the November 2023 to July 2024 period. It marked an increase from 1.32 lakh tonne during the same period in the 2022-23 oil year. In July 2024, India imported 55,014 tonne of non-edible oil, as compared to 15,999 tonne in July 2023.

In the third quarter of the 2023-24 oil year, India’s imports witnessed a 20 per cent surge, driven by the large influx in July 2024. From May 2024 to July 2024, India’s total import of vegetable oil stood at 49.75 lakh tonne. The edible oil import during the same period stood at 48.65 lakh tonne. The recently concluded quarter of the current oil year marked a 20 per cent increase compared to the same quarter during the last oil year.

In July 2024, India imported a record quantity of palm oil at 10.81 lakh tonne, the highest since November 2022.