Edible Oil Imports on Hold—Kandla Congestion Pours Cold Press on June Volumes

Image Source: The Economic Times

India's imports of soyoil will decline sequentially in June 2025, primarily owing to logistics backlogs at Kandla Port, one of India's key edible oil import facilities. Industry sources indicate that congestion has slowed vessel unloading and disrupted supply chains, prompting refiners to reroute or postpone shipments.

1. What's Behind the Decline?

Kandla Port in Gujarat is seriously congested with a large number of ships waiting to offload cargo.
Delays have affected timely shipment arrival and clearance of soyoil, resulting in an expected decline in monthly imports.
June soyoil imports are estimated to decrease by 10–15% from May when shipments had climbed to a multi-month high.

2. Market Implications

India is the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils, which it imports in the form of soyoil mainly from Argentina and Brazil.
The slowdown in imports may make domestic supply tighter in the near term, pushing prices upward.
Refiners are reportedly shifting focus to palm oil, which currently is cheaper and coming in through less congested ports.

3. Broader Context

India's imports of palm oil rose 84% from April to a six-month high in May 2025, while soyoil imports also were modestly higher.
The government recently cut import duties on edible oils to help check food inflation, which had encouraged higher purchases.
Those gains are now being set to be wiped out by jams however.

Sources: MarketScreener, Economic Times, MSN