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2026-04-07 18:34:12
[India's Gas Cylinder Shortage Devastates Food and Beverage Industry, Sugar and Cooking Oil Demand Both Decline] ⑴ A shortage of commercial gas cylinders in India has forced restaurants to scale back operations during the summer peak season, leading to a decline in the country's sugar and cooking oil consumption. Roadside restaurants and other establishments are facing cylinder shortages, reducing their cooking oil usage. ⑵ The executive director of the Solvent Extractors Association of India stated that India's cooking oil imports in March fell by nearly 9% month-on-month to 1.2 million tons. The decline in consumption may suppress India's imports of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as soybean oil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia, and Ukraine. ⑶ A roadside restaurant owner stated that they were unable to operate last week after running out of gas. Although they received a cylinder this week, they expect it to last no more than ten days, even though a cylinder ordered three weeks ago has not yet arrived. ⑷ India, the world's second-largest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), is facing its worst gas shortage in decades. The government has cut industrial gas consumption to ensure household supply, and approximately 90% of imports come from the Middle East. (5) A senior official from the National Cooperative Sugar Mills Federation revealed that the gas shortage has also dampened the sugar demand that usually rises in the summer, with many roadside tea stalls and dessert shops scaling back operations or temporarily closing.
