The largest global purchaser of sunflower oil usually obtains a majority of its imports from the Black Sea region through the Red Sea. Nevertheless, recent attacks by the Houthi group have prompted shipping companies to redirect trade routes between Europe and Asia around Africa, leading to extended timeframes and heightened costs. India’s sunflower oil imports are set to decline in the upcoming months as a rally in prices, due to the increase freight charges and are prompting buyers to shift to rival vegetable oils at a discount, traders told Reuters.
The world’s biggest sunflower oil buyer typically sources most of its imports from Black Sea region via the red Sea but due to the recent attacks of Houthi on the Vessels have compelled the shipping companies to reroute trade between Europe and Asia around Africa, Increasing time and costs.
For the 1st time in India, the sunflower oil costs have lifted above the soy oil in India in the past year due to the elevated freight rates, “Sunoil imports were robust in the last few months due to the price advantage it had over soyoil. However, it lost this advantage because of rising freight,” said Sandeep Bajoria, CEO of Sunvin Group.