India's palm oil ​imports edged up in May, rebounding from a four-month low, ‌but remained below normal levels as refiners increased purchases ​of cheaper soyoil after palm oil's price ⁠advantage narrowed, a leading industry body said on Friday.

Lower-than-usual imports of palm oil by the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils ‌could lead to swelling stocks in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, weighing on benchmark Malaysian palm oil ‌futures.

India's palm oil imports in May were ‌up ⁠7 per cent from April to 549,356 metric tonne, the ⁠Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.

India's monthly palm oil imports averaged about 632,000 tonne in the marketing year ended October ​2025, according to the ‌SEA.

"Restaurants and other commercial users haven't been buying as much palm oil because of cooking gas shortages, and that's been weighing on imports," said a Mumbai-based ‌dealer with a global trade house.

Imports of soyoil ​rose 37 per cent to 493,854 tonne and sunflower oil imports decreased nearly 32 per cent to 295,726 tonne, ⁠the industry trade body said.

Higher imports of palm oil and soyoil lifted total vegetable oil imports in May by 4.2 per cent ‌from a month ago to 1.37 million tonne, the highest in three months, the SEA said.

India's vegetable oil imports in the first seven months of the 2026/27 marketing year, which began on November 1, rose 12 per cent from a year earlier to 9.2 million tonne, ‌the SEA said.

Palm oil imports are likely to rise above ​600,000 tonne in June, while soyoil imports could fall to around 350,000 tonne, said Rajesh Patel, ⁠managing partner at trader GGN Research in Rajkot, a city ⁠in the western state of Gujarat.

India sources most of its palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, ‌while soyoil and sunflower oil are imported mainly from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.

Published on June 12, 2026