West Asia conflict: Edible oil rates firm up on crude price spiral

Brent rally amid Strait of Hormuz tensions may lift edible oil prices in India, even without supply disruptions

As war in Iran enters its fifth day on Wednesday, traders in edible oil and market players expect an escalation in the landed price of major oils in India not due to any logistical bottleneck and but mostly on account of a spike in rates in crude oil.

 

According to the Department of Consumer Affairs data, the all-India average retail price of sunflower oil, soybean oil, and palm oil in packed form increased ₹1-3 per kg as on March 3 as compared to the previous day.

 

India largely purchases crude palm oil, crude soybean oil, and crude sunflower oil from international markets. Those account for almost 90 per cent of vegetable oils imported into India. (Imports totalled 16.01 million tonnes in November-October 2024-25.)

 

According to traders, of the three major edible oils imported, crude palm oil comes from Malaysia and Indonesia. This does not have any logistical problem due to war. Palm is the largest consumed edible oil in India.

 

Then comes soybean oil, which is imported from Argentina and Brazil, and is shipped through the Cape of Good Hope, which is the southernmost point of Africa and is an alternative to the Suez Canal.

 

“Here too there is no supply disruption as of now,” a leading trader based in Mumbai said. 

 

However, when it comes to sunflower oil, which comes mainly from Russia and Ukraine, most traders rely on the Black Sea route to transit to India. This is a longer route but not much affected by the current conflict.

 

“I don’t anticipate any major direct logistical challenge when it comes to the transportation of edible oils to India from any of the destination countries as was being done during the Russia-Ukraine war for sunflower oil,” the trader said.

 

However, an indirect impact of war will be on the landed price of edible oils because as soon as crude-oil rates firm up, the rates of edible oils follow because their requirement in bio-diesel goes up.

 

“With crude-oil prices climbing sharply in the last few days due to the threat to the Strait of Hormuz, there could be a significant jump in the landed price of edible oils in the coming days if the crisis persists longer than a week to 10 days,” the trader said.

 

Already as on February 27, the landed price of crude soybean oil was up by 6.02 per cent as compared to the average price of February 2025, while that of sunflower oil was up almost 13.14 per cent.

 

Of the major oils imported into India, the landed price of crude palm oil was only marginally down 4.09 per cent as on February 27, as compared to the average price of whole of February 2025.

 

“If the crisis persists and crude oil continues to remain firm, the landed price of edible oils in India could go up $30-$0 per tonne which could have a direct bearing on household budgets,” the trader said.

 

Brent crude futures were up $6.05, or 7.8 per cent, at $83.79 a barrel by 11.43 GMT after touching their highest since July 2024 at $85.12.