India’s palm oil imports jump to four-month high

MUMBAI: India’s palm oil imports jumped 51 percent in January from a month earlier to their highest in four months, as a wider discount to rival soyoil encouraged refiners to step up purchases of the tropical oil while cutting soyoil imports to a 19-month low.

Higher palm oil imports by India, the world’s largest buyer of vegetable oils, could help reduce inventories in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, supporting benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures while pressuring US soyoil futures. India imported 766,384 metric tons of palm oil last month, the highest since September 2025, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said on Friday.