Egypt Vegetable Oil Market — Demand, Imports & Refining 2026
Egypt vegetable oil market — 2.5+ million MT/year demand, 75% import-dependent, key sources from Indonesia (palm), Argentina/Brazil (soybean), Ukraine/Russia (sunflower). Refining capacity, HS codes, and procurement guidance.
Egypt Vegetable Oil Market — 2026 Overview
Egypt has one of the highest per-capita edible-oil consumption rates in the Middle East — ~22 kg/person/year, driven by traditional Egyptian cooking (heavy frying, baladi bread soft-fat content, foul medames preparation). Total domestic demand sits at 2.5–2.8 million MT/year of vegetable oils combined.
Breakdown by oil type (2025 estimated volumes):
| Oil | Volume (MT/year) | Share | Primary use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm oil (CPO + olein + stearin) | 1.3 million | 48% | Frying, bakery, margarine |
| Soybean oil | 600,000 | 22% | Bottle retail, food service |
| Sunflower oil | 350,000 | 13% | Premium retail, salad oil |
| Cottonseed oil (domestic) | 180,000 | 7% | Subsidized supply, baladi food |
| Corn oil | 110,000 | 4% | Premium retail |
| Olive oil (mainly domestic) | 65,000 | 2% | Cooking, retail |
| Other (canola, peanut, sesame) | 110,000 | 4% | Specialty, ethnic |
~75% import-dependent by volume. Domestic production from cottonseed and a small olive sector cannot meet demand. Egypt has no oil palm or large-scale soybean cultivation. Sunflower is mostly imported as crude oil; some imported sunflower seed crushes occur in Egyptian crushing plants.
Top supplier countries (2024–2025 average)
Edible oil in Egypt is partially subsidized for low-income households via the tamween (rationing) system — typically 1.5 L cottonseed/soybean blend per family per month at heavily discounted EGP price. Subsidized supply is procured by the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) via international tenders.
Non-subsidized retail and food-service segments run at market prices linked to ZCE (Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange) soybean / palm futures + freight + duty + EGP FX. Recent retail prices for 1 L PET bottle, Cairo super-market shelf:
- Soybean oil: EGP 50–58
- Sunflower oil: EGP 65–80
- Corn oil: EGP 85–110
- Olive oil (extra virgin): EGP 280–500
- Palm-blend cooking oil (1 L): EGP 42–48
Egypt has ~3 million MT/year of edible-oil refining capacity across ~12 industrial plants. Key clusters:
Refining steps: degumming → neutralization → bleaching (clay) → deodorization (steam distillation at 240°C, 2–6 mbar). Output meets Codex Alimentarius CXS 19 and Egyptian standard ES 49.
Crude oil imports arrive as bulk parcel-tanker shipments (2,000–6,000 MT lots) at Ain Sokhna and Damietta. Refined imports more often in drums or flexitanks. Domestic distribution is by insulated road tanker (refineries → wholesale) and PET bottling (refineries → retail).
GASC tender shipments often run 30,000–50,000 MT in a single Handymax vessel for soybean and sunflower oil, with delivery split across Damietta and Alexandria.
Egypt Globe Group's Pelot Trading arm coordinates edible-oil import logistics: connecting Argentina/Brazil/Ukraine/Russia origin shippers with Egyptian refiners and the GASC tender process, plus L/C structuring, freight tank-tanker chartering, and Sokhna/Damietta tankage coordination.
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