After Russia invaded Ukraine, which disrupted supplies of sunflower oil from the region, global cooking oil prices have risen this year. The Black Sea supplies 76 percent of the world's sunflower oil.
Domestic edible oil prices, which are already high, are expected to rise further as Indonesia, the leading producer of palm oil, announces a ban on exports from April 28.
Indonesia has also been dealing with high edible oil prices as a result of internal shortages and rising prices. China and India are two of the world's largest importers of palm oil from Indonesia, which is responsible for accounting for more than half of the global supplies. Palm oil is found in a wide range of items, including cooking oils, processed foods, cosmetics, and biofuels.
It is the most extensively used vegetable oil in the world, and it is used to make a variety of items such as cookies, margarine, laundry detergents, and chocolate.
The Black Sea exports 76% of the world's sunflower oil. A suspension in Indonesian shipments would result in India losing around 4 million tonnes of palm oil per month. According to experts, India's sunflower oil supplies have practically halved to around 100,000 tonnes per month as the result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which might make things even worse for Indian homes.
Furthermore, after a year of double-digit inflation, India's wholesale inflation accelerated to a four-month high in March, due to the continuous rise in commodity prices which have followed due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In March, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) increased 14.55 percent from February's 13.11 percent.
