Indian importers have canceled at least 1.30 lakh tonne (LT) soybean oil deals with South American countries. The main reasons for this are the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the price disparity between imported and domestic soybean oil. Brazil and Argentina are the major South American countries that supply soybean oil to India.
Sandeep Bajoria, Chief Executive Officer, Sunwin Group (a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm) told business Line That India has canceled about 45,000 tonnes of soybean oil deals for February, March and April shipments. Indian buyers canceled about 85,000 tonnes of South American oil in December.
The fall of the rupee and price disparity between South American and Indian soybean oils have been cited as the reasons for this. He said South American soybean oil is about $35 a tonne higher than its domestic counterpart.
higher than cpo
The CIF price of soybean degummed crude oil on January 22 was $1,248 per tonne. According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), the average CIF price of crude soybean oil stood at $1,188 a tonne in December. In fact, on January 22, the price of soybean oil in India was about $ 121 per tonne more than crude palm oil (CPO).
The exchange rate of the rupee against the dollar on January 22 was ₹91.63. The average rupee exchange rate in December 2025 was ₹90.03 per dollar, while in November 2025 it was ₹88.84. The average rupee exchange rate in December 2024 was ₹84.97 per dollar.
On the other hand, soybean oil has been gaining since December as the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed a higher renewable fuel standard for 2026 and 2027. Due to this the demand for bio-mass based diesel has increased.
december boost
Prices were also boosted by China’s purchases of US soybeans to maintain its commitment to buy 12 million tonnes by the end of February. Moreover, soybean oil imports by India increased by 37 percent in December 2025.
According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India, soybean oil imports rose to 5.05 lakh tonnes (litre) in December from 3.71 lakh tonnes a year ago. However, shipments in the November-December 2025 period were slightly down compared to a year earlier. Argentina is the major supplier to India, exporting 5.92 tonnes during October-November, while another 1.05 tonnes came from China, while Brazil’s exports stood at 98,500 tonnes.
On the domestic front, farmers in Madhya Pradesh are benefiting from the Soybean Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) for Kharif 2025-26. About 16 liters of soybean has already been sold by farmers under the scheme till December 2025 against the quantity of 22 liters approved by the Madhya Pradesh government.
win:win
SEA President Sanjeev Asthana had said earlier this week that the re-introduced Bhavantar system has once again created a win-win arrangement for farmers, industry and the government.
Farmers are protected from price crises and assured of profitable returns, while the processing industry is able to purchase soybeans at market-determined prices without supply disruptions or market distortions. Also, the government avoids the logistics, warehousing and financial burden associated with large-scale physical procurement.
BBY is a price deficiency payment scheme under which farmers are assured the Minimum Support Price (MSP) declared for soybean by the government without resorting to physical procurement.
Under the scheme, if the prevailing mandi prices fall below the MSP, the difference is credited into the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of farmers through direct benefit transfer.
SEA data showed that India imported 8.75 liters of soybean oil during November-December of oil year 2025-26, compared to 8.8 liters in the same period of the previous oil year 2024-25. The oil year lasts from November to October.
Soybean prices in the domestic market have increased to the level of ₹ 5,200-5,250 from ₹ 4,500 a month ago. Soybean prices were at ₹4,140 per quintal in the same period a year ago.
Published on January 23, 2026
