India’s total edible oil imports will likely climb in the year ending September due to stronger consumer demand, according to Sudhakar Desai, president of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association, according to Bloomberg.
“Consumption is back,” Desai said at the UOB Kay Hian palm oil seminar in Kuala Lumpur Monday. India’s per-capita consumption is likely to accelerate, jumping 5% to 24.35 million tons in 2022-23, versus a 1.1% rise a year earlier.
Desai also says India’s 2022-23 total edible oil imports is seen climbing to 14.38 million tons from 14.07 million tons the previous year, while palm oil imports may rise to 9.17 million tons from 7.99 million tons. Imports in January to February 2023 were seen at 1.97 million tons, before easing to 1.80 million in April to June 2022, then rebounding to 2.22 million tons in July to Sept 2022.
However, soybean oil imports may drop to 3.16 million tons in 2022-23 from 4.05 million tons a year earlier, while sunflower oil imports forecast to rise to two million tons this year from 1.93 million tons.
The global production of vegetable oils in the 2022-23 oil year is expected to rise 4.6 percent, over a base of 189.21 million tons. Consumption in the same period is seen climbing 5.7 percent to 191 million tons. Palm oil futures may trade at 4,200-4,700 ringgit a ton from April to June, then ease to 4,300-4,500 ringgit in the second half of the year.
Edible oil scrips like Adani Wilmar has rallied over 30 percent in past five days , while the Ramdev founded Patanjali foods is up nearly 10 percent in the same period.
