Import of sunflower oil from Latin America increased after Russia-Ukraine war: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the Russia-Ukraine war has forced India, the world’s largest importer of edible oil, to turn to Latin American countries as an alternative source of sunflower oil. Addressing an event here on Tuesday, Jaishankar said India was a major importer of sunflower oil from Ukraine but the supply got disrupted after the war broke out. India imports 2.5 million tonnes of sunflower oil annually. Of this, 70 percent is imported from Ukraine, 20 percent from Russia and the remaining 10 percent from Argentina.

Jaishankar said, “A year ago when the Ukraine war started, the first impact on the global economy was on oil prices. Very few people noticed that a country like India faced problems in terms of edible oil as we were one of the biggest importers of sunflower oil from Ukraine. He said, “The pressure on India to find alternative sources has actually driven Indian importers far beyond their traditional sources in ASEAN countries. It really took them to Latin America.” Jaishankar said, “There was a huge increase in India’s trade with Latin America and interestingly a large part of the credit goes to edible oil.” According to industry body Solvent Extractors Association, India’s import of edible oils rose to 14.03 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year ending October from 13.13 million tonnes in the previous year.