Duty-free sunflower oil imports from Black Sea set to drop this year

India is likely to import 1.5 million tonnes of duty-free sunflower oil during the current fiscal year to March 31, trade and government sources said, half a million tonnes less than the quota allocated by the government.

India, the world's biggest vegetable oil importer, buys sunflower oil from the Black Sea region, which accounts for 60% of the world's sunflower oil output and 76% of exports.

India has already imported 1.3 million tonnes of duty-free sunflower oil so far in the 2022-23 fiscal year, and another 200,000 tonnes are expected by March 31, the sources said.

The lower imports reflect traders' growing concerns over sealing deals to import large volumes of the cooking oil from Russia and Ukraine.

The 120-day Black Sea Grain Initiative - a deal initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July and extended in November - needs to be renewed on March 18 to ensure food supplies from Ukraine via its Black Sea ports.

"There is uncertainty over the renewal of the deal, and that's why traders are cautious," a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trading firm said requesting anonymity. "It's better to wait and watch than to burn our fingers." A recent rise in freight and insurance costs from the Black Sea has also deterred buyers from contracting import deals, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oil broker Sunvin Group.

There has also been a lack of availability of sunflower oil from other origins such as Argentina, he said.

India has allowed duty-free imports of 2 million tonnes of crude sunflower oil during the current and the next fiscal year to March 2024.

But New Delhi has decided to halt duty-free imports of crude soyoil from the next fiscal year beginning April 1.

India's duty-free soyoil imports totalled 1.7 million tonnes and the shipments are likely to touch 2 million tonnes by March 31, the sources said.