India Oilseeds Update: Small Adjustments, Same Big Picture

USDA FAS New Delhi’s February 4, 2026 Oilseeds and Products Update makes incremental changes to India’s 2025/26 oilseed balance, but it does not alter the broader story. India remains heavily reliant on imported vegetable oils, while domestic moves in rapeseed and soybeans only slightly adjust the margins.

Rapeseed: modest acreage and crush revision

The report’s main adjustment is in rapeseed. Harvested area for 2025/26 is revised down to 9.1 million hectares as some growers shift acreage into wheat after strong monsoon rains improved soil moisture and favored higher‑yielding cereals. Even with this reduction, rapeseed area remains slightly above last year, and the crop is described as healthy with favorable weather and limited pest pressure.

Rapeseed production is trimmed by about two percent from the initial forecast, and crush is lowered to 10.7 million metric tons (MMT) from 10.9 MMT. Meal and oil output are reduced in line with crush, but both stay above 2024/25 levels on continued domestic demand and increased rapeseed meal buying from China. Overall, rapeseed remains an important but stable part of India’s oilseed complex rather than a major swing factor.

Soybeans: smaller 2025/26 crop and lower crush

For soybeans, USDA’s table confirms a somewhat tighter outlook for 2025/26 compared with recent years. Area planted is placed at 12.5 million hectares (roughly 30.1 million acres), down from 13.7 million hectares (about 33.9 million acres) in the prior USDA line. Area harvested follows the same pattern, dropping to 11.5 million hectares, while trend yields keep production at 10.7 MMT versus 12.582 MMT in 2024/25.

With fewer beans available, projected crush in 2025/26 is reduced to 9.5 MMT from 10.542 MMT in 2024/25 and 11.0 MMT in 2023/24. Food‑use consumption edges higher to 820 thousand metric tons, feed and waste use declines to 720 thousand tons, and ending stocks rise to 750 thousand tons, up from 664 thousand tons last year. These are incremental shifts that tighten the domestic soybean balance but do not represent a major structural change.

Soy products: meal and oil balances adjust

Soybean meal projections move in line with the smaller crush. USDA now shows 2025/26 soymeal production at 7.6 MMT, down from 8.434 MMT in 2024/25 and 9.28 MMT in 2023/24. Exports are set at 1.235 MMT, compared with 1.3 MMT last year and nearly 2.0 MMT two years ago. Domestic use, including both feed and food channels, remains the primary destination, and ending stocks are forecast at 455 thousand tons.

For soybean oil, the update shows slightly lower domestic production and continued reliance on imports. 2025/26 soyoil output is estimated at 1.71 MMT, while imports are raised to 4.687 MMT after strong buying interest from multiple origins. Total soybean oil consumption is projected at 6.392 MMT, only modestly below 2024/25, and ending stocks are forecast to ease to 750 thousand tons.

Other oilseeds and vegetable oils: adjustments at the margin

The report also updates tables for copra, cottonseed, peanuts, and sunflowerseed, but changes there are relatively small. Peanut crush and domestic consumption are nudged higher; cottonseed and sunflowerseed adjustments are minor and do not materially change India’s overall oilseed availability. FAS New Delhi specifically notes that there are no major new developments for these crops beyond the updated estimates.

On the vegetable oil side, palm oil remains India’s largest single import. The report lifts 2025/26 palm oil import projections to 7.314 MMT on lower prices and increased buying from Indonesia and Malaysia, though volumes are still expected to remain below 2024/25 levels as buyers diversify into soybean and sunflower oils. Rapeseed, coconut, cottonseed, peanut, and sunflower oils see small revisions to production, use, or trade, but all remain secondary to palm and soybean oil in India’s overall consumption mix.

Source: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) GAIN — “Oilseeds and Products Update,” New Delhi, India, Report IN2026‑0002, February 4, 2026; Paradigm Futures analysis.