Russia-Ukraine war delays 60k T of sunflower oil shipments to India and India buys 150k T of palm oil for Nov-Dec delivery, according to trade sources

India is the world's largest vegetable oil importer, and its import mix between palm, soyoil and sunflower oil is the main swing factor for relative prices across the complex. Substitution of this kind is a well-worn pattern: when Black Sea sunflower oil supply is disrupted by the conflict, Indian buyers have historically rotated toward palm oil from Southeast Asia, tightening that market while leaving sunflower oil to clear at a discount where logistics permit. The volume cited is modest relative to India's total monthly intake, so the significance lies in the direction of the switch rather than the tonnage itself. The transmission runs through the palm-sunflower oil spread and through Malaysian and Indonesian export competitiveness against Black Sea origin. Worth watching is whether freight, insurance and payment frictions widen the discount on Russian and Ukrainian origin further, and whether the next round of Indian import data confirms the rotation as a trend rather than a one-off. Trade-source reporting of this kind is typically directional rather than precise.