Русский
India imported almost US$353 million worth of sunflower oil from Russia in the first quarter of 2024, 17% more than in the same period last year, the Agriculture Ministry’s Agroexport Center reported, citing data from Indian customs. Sunflower oil is a key consumer commodity in India and is used widely in preparing vegetarian food.
Russia’s share in the total volume of sunflower oil shipments to India increased from 27% in Q1 2023 to 39% for the same period of this year.
Agroexport stated that shipments of 6,000 or 12,000 tonnes of products are sent to the Indian market every month. “24,000 tonnes have already been exported, not including the May shipment. We plan to maintain this pace in the future. The geographical remoteness of India forces us to adjust product logistics; shipments can only be done in large quantities. We needed to create the required volume of products using the capacities of three factories, and then carry out multimodal shipment, which includes offshore transshipment.”
India increased imports of Russian overall agricultural products 1.8% in the first quarter to US$572 million, meaning that Russia’s share in India’s total imports increased from 4.2% to 7.1%. At the end of the quarter, Russia rose to fourth place among the largest suppliers of agricultural products to the Indian market. India has a population of 1.42 billion, meaning sustainable food security is a key issue for Delhi. In addition to vegetable oil, India’s main agricultural purchases from Russia are peas and lentils.
Further Reading
Russia-India 2024 Trade & Development
Russia’s trade and development with India is extensively covered in our 2024 Russia’s Pivot To Asia Guide, which is a complimentary download and can be accessed in English here and Russian here.
