In July, India's palm oil imports surged to a seven-month high of 1.08 million metric tons, driven by refiners capitalizing on reduced prices, Reuters reported.

India recorded a significant 59% rise in its palm oil imports for July, reaching 1.08 million metric tons, marking the highest intake in the last seven months. This surge is attributed to refiners maximizing on the dip in prices, according to a statement from a trade organization on Monday. 

India, as the globe's most substantial consumer of vegetable oils, plays a crucial role in assisting the top palm oil producers, Malaysia and Indonesia, in managing and reducing their inventories. This, in turn, is favorable for sustaining Malaysian market prices.

On the other hand, July imports of soy oil dipped by approximately 22% to 342,270 tons. Conversely, sunflower oil imports witnessed a sharp increase of 71%, reaching 327,259 tons, as reported by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA).

Driven by the impending festival season and concerns over Black Sea supplies, India's total edible oil imports for July surged to an unparalleled 1.76 million tons. 

The price difference between crude palm oil and crude soy oil expanded to beyond $150 per ton. This motivated refiners to gravitate more towards palm oil, shared a dealer from a renowned global trade firm based in Mumbai. They forecast that this uptrend will be maintained in the subsequent months, with anticipated imports of around 1 million tons in September. 

For the marketing year 2022/23, which concludes on October 31, India's cumulative edible oil imports might skyrocket to a groundbreaking 15.5 million tons, as per SEA's statement.

India primarily sources its palm oil from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Meanwhile, its soy oil and sunflower oil imports predominantly come from nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine.