India’s edible oil import rise clogs ports, slows fresh purchases

A recent surge in India’s edible oil imports has led to port congestion, delaying cargo unloading and potentially causing India, the world’s largest vegetable oil consumer, to reduce purchases in the coming months, according to traders. At Kandla port on India’s western coast, at least nine vessels carrying roughly 300,000 metric tons of edible oils await discharge, with some delays lasting up to ten days due to full shore tanks.

A similar situation exists at Haldia port in eastern India, though on a smaller scale, said a trader from Saveraa International, an edible oil brokerage. The bottleneck stems from aggressive buying by Indian refiners, which drove August edible oil imports to between 1.5 million metric tons and 1.9 million metric tons, according to various market sources.

August saw 587 vegetable oil arrivals, amounting to 1.9 million metric tons, said Mukesh Goyal, director at vegetable oil trader Oyal Makler. This import figure marks the highest in 20 months and represents a 29% increase year over year, from 1.47 million metric tons in August 2025, Goyal noted on September 7. Crude soybean oil imports are anticipated to surpass crude palm oil imports, with 858,706 metric tons slated for August versus 793,636 metric tons last year, Goyal said.

Refiners had booked substantial volumes of August and September cargoes due to cheaper prompt shipments and anticipation of heightened demand during festival season, traders explained. However, consumption has lagged expectations, leaving refiners and port operators grappling for storage space. The congestion is anticipated to dampen India’s vegetable oil demand in the near term, as per two India-based traders who spoke to Platts under anonymity.

Vegetable oil analyst Tushar Agarwal indicated that refiners may trim October purchases of palm oil and soybean oil while untangling existing inventories and clearing the port backlog. Soybean oil was discounted, leading to heavy purchases, but demand has been weak, slowing offtake from importers. At least four tankers are stranded at ports, and importers are concerned as lingering shipments could result in defaults, according to Agarwal on September 8.

India’s port stocks of vegetable oils reached 1.1 million metric tons by the end of July, the highest level since October 2023, the Solvents Extractors’ Association of India reported in August after releasing import data for July. The SEA will publish August import numbers by September 15. Platts assessed crude palm oil CFR West Coast India at $1,285 per metric ton on September 7, a 0.6% increase from the previous day.