Chennai: Palm oil has lost its market share in the imported edible oil basket to 48 per cent in December 2024 from 72 per cent in December 2023 as Malaysian palm oil prices went up in 2024. Soya oil and sunflower oil have grabbed the market share from palm oil.
While the hike in import duties made edible oils across segments costlier, the rise in international prices made things worse for palm oil. Refined palm oil prices moved up from $858 per tonne in December 2023 to $1236 by December 2024. Crude palm oil climbed from $883 to $1270 during the period. However, the rise in crude soya oil and sunflower oil prices were less steep from $976 to $1123 and $945 and $1206, respectively, as per the data of Solvent Extractors’ Association of India.
This saw the share of palm oil coming down from 72 per cent during November-December 2023 to 48 per cent in November-December 2024. Meanwhile, the combined market share of soya oil and sunflower oil went up from 28 per cent to 52 per cent. The import of crude oil fell from 1.7 lakh tonnes to 1.3 lakh tonnes while the other two oils saw imports going up from 0.69 lakh tonnes to 1.4 lakh tonnes.
Further, the import share of crude edible oils have been coming down since 2021. From 95 per cent in 2021, crude palm oil import share is down to 82 per cent, while refined palm oil import share is up from 5 per cent to 18 per cent. This trend is unfavourable for the oil refining industry in India.
SEA also finds that the import of non-edible oil, which is mainly used for the manufacture of biodiesel, soaps and other personal hygiene products, has been going up. The imports have gone up from 16,498 tonnes in November-December 2023 to 83,105 tonnes in November-December 2024 mainly due to the increasing biodiesel production. Altogether, edible and non-edible oil imports went up by 16 per cent during November-December 2024, though imports were down by 6 per cent in December after 40 per cent growth in November.
