Consumption of sugar and edible oils is declining in India as restaurants are forced to scale back operations amid a shortage of gas cylinders. Lower consumption could curb India’s imports of edible oils, including palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine.
Roadside eateries and restaurants are facing gas cylinder shortages, which is reducing their edible oil consumption, said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), as he noted that India’s edible oil imports fell nearly 9% in March from the previous month to 1.2 million tons.
Those restaurants typically serve deep-fried dishes like samosas and chole bhature. Manoj Yadav, who runs a roadside eatery serving chole bhature, said he was unable to operate last week after running out of cooking gas, resuming business this week after securing a single cylinder that is unlikely to last more than ten days.
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“Gas cylinder deliveries haven’t happened even three weeks after booking. I’m not sure if I’ll get a new cylinder or when it will be delivered,” Yadav said.
India, which is the world’s second-largest importer of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is going through its worst gas crisis in decades, with the government cutting supplies for industries to shield households from shortages. The country consumed 33.15 million metric tons of LPG, or cooking gas, last year, with imports accounting for about 60% of demand. About 90% of those imports came from the Middle East.
The supply of LPG has been affected due to a disruption in shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. While the war has all but halted shipping through the strait, Iran says “non-hostile vessels” may transit the waterway if they coordinate with Iranian authorities.
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Ship tracking data on LSEG and Kpler showed that two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tankers, Green Asha and Green Sanvi, have exited the Gulf and are in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, taking the total number of Indian-flagged LPG carriers that have traversed the Strait to eight. India is gradually moving its stranded LPG cargoes out from the strait, with Shivalik, Nanda Devi, Pine Gas, Jag Vasant, BW Elm and BW Tyr already reaching India.
A senior official with the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd (NFCSF) told Reuters that the gas shortage has also hit sugar demand, which typically rises during the summer months.
“Summer holidays have begun and the wedding season is picking up,” the official said, adding that many roadside tea stalls and sweet shops have scaled back operations or shut temporarily.