MUMBAI (Reuters) -India’s edible oil imports in 2025/26 are projected to rise 4.6% to a record 17.1 million metric tons, driven by higher palm oil purchases by the world’s largest vegetable oil buyer, industry analyst Dorab Mistry said on Friday.
Higher palm oil purchases by India will help top producer Indonesia and Malaysia to bring down stocks and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures.
Palm oil imports are likely to jump 13.4% to 9.3 million tons while soyoil imports are likely to dip to 5 million tons in the new marketing year from November 1, Mistry told delegates at an industry conference Globoil India.
Sunflower oil imports in the new season are likely to fall to 2.7 million tons from 3 million tons this year, Mistry said.
India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia while importing soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Global palm oil production growth is slowing, with output in 2025/26 projected to rise by only 1 million tons even as demand for food and biofuels climbs, Mistry said.
Malaysian palm oil futures are expected to rise once the peak production period ends in October and could surpass 5,000 ringgit ($1,185) a ton in November–December, he said.
Prices could extend the rally further, reaching a more than three-year high of 5,500 ringgit a ton in January–March 2026 on supplies tightened by increased biodiesel consumption in top producer Indonesia.
The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 43 ringgit, or 0.97%, to 4,396 ringgit a ton on Friday.
($1 = 4.2190 ringgit)
(Reporting by Rajendra JadhavEditing by Toby Chopra and David Goodman)
