India’s edible oil imports declined by 2 per cent in the first quarter of the oil year 2025-26 (November-October) mainly due to the in reduction in imports of soybean oil and sunflower oil.
India imported 38.78 lakh tonnes (lt) of edible oil during November-January of the oil year 2025-26 against 39.21 lt in the corresponding period of the previous oil year.
BV Mehta, Executive Director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), said India’s edible oil imports marginally declined to 13.11 lt in January 2026 from 13.62 lt in December 2025.
Soybean oil imports declined to 12.02 lt during the first three months of the oil year 2025-26 from 13.87 lt in Q1 of 2024-25. Sunflower oil imports declined to 7.62 lt in the first quarter of 2024-25 from 9.12 lt in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Palm oil shipments rise
However, India’s palm oil (including RBD palmolein and crude palm oil) imports increased to 19.08 lt during the first quarter of the current oil year from 16.21 lt in the corresponding quarter of the last year.
Stating that imports of crude palm oil (CPO) is on the rise, he said India imported 18.87 lt of CPO during Q1 of 2025-26 (11.14 lt in Q1 of 2024-25). India’s imports of RBD palmolein decreased to 9,784 tonnes (4.84 lt) during the period. Imports of refined soybean oil declined to 47,369 tonnes (1.14 lt) and refined sunflower oil to 3,022 tonnes (18,473 tonnes) during the period.
The ratio of refined oil to the total edible oil imports sharply decreased to 2 per cent from 16 per cent during the first quarter of 2025-26. The share of palm oil imports in the total edible oil imports increased to 49 per cent from 41 per cent due to higher import of CPO.
Import from Nepal
He said Nepal exported around 54,000 tonnes of refined oils during November 2025. This included 47,639 tonnes of refined soybean oil, 3,022 tonnes of refined sunflower oil, and 2,484 tonnes of RBD palmolein. In December 2025, Nepal exported around 48,000 tonnes of refined oils.
Major exporters
During November-January 2025-26, Malaysia exported 8.31 lt of CPO to India. Indonesia exported 7.24 lt of CPO and 7,300 tonnes of RBD palmolein to India during the period.
India imported 7.63 lt of crude soybean degummed oil from Argentina, 1.50 lt from Brazil, and 1.42 lt from China during the first quarter of the oil year 2025-26. Russia exported 4.33 lt of crude sunflower oil to India during Q1 of 2025-26. This was followed by Argentina at 1.10 lt and Ukraine at 1.52 lt.
Total vegetable oil imports (including both edible and non-edible oils) reached 39.60 lt during the first three months of the oil year 2025-26 against 40.46 lt in the same period of the last oil year.
Published on February 13, 2026
