India suspends sunflower oil purchases: what’s the reason?

Approximately two weeks ago, India completely suspended sunflower oil imports. The primary reason lies in the excessive price spread between sunflower oil and other vegetable fats. Not only India, but most European countries also already have sufficient stock for the current and following month. Therefore, active demand for popular types of oils is unlikely before the end of 2025. This was reported by Sergey Repetskiy, partner at agricultural company Sunstone Brokers.

Global vegetable oils market situation

Analysts state that two weeks ago, the CIF price gap between sunflower and soybean oil reached around $180, and up to $200 compared to palm oil. On the Spanish and Dutch markets, the spread exceeded $120.

During that week, there was a significant drop in vegetable oil prices, primarily affecting sunflower oil. Over seven days, FOB prices declined by $60.

Palm oil prices also began to fall steadily by $20–30 daily, due to increased stock levels and reduced export volumes from Indonesia and Malaysia. Shortly after, this trend impacted soybean oil, with notable contract price drops on the Chicago exchange.

Additionally, favorable weather conditions in Latin America are applying further pressure on prices. According to Argentinian industry experts, the upcoming sunflower harvest is expected to be extremely high — about 6 million tons. Based on this, offers at $1,170/FOB are not generating active demand.

Mr. Repetskiy highlighted that FOB sunflower oil prices dropped by about $60 during the same week. Considering the current cost of sunflower seeds, processors now face negative processing margins. Therefore, either the price will adjust soon, or market stagnation will continue, with major facilities switching to soybean and rapeseed processing. He believes a recovery to last month’s price level is unlikely.

According to the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (AAC), in October the sunflower harvest increased by less than 1 million tons, reaching 6.1 million tons — not even half of the planned 11–12 million tons. Due to wet weather conditions, seed quality is deteriorating, resulting in lower volumes and higher prices for premium-grade supplies.

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