Vietnam has a sizable edible-oil industry of its own. There are refineries, storage terminals, consumer brands and food manufacturers operating across the country. Imports are still substantial. For edible oil importers in Vietnam , USDA's numbers give some idea of the scale. Palm-oil imports are estimated at 1.14 million tonnes in MY2024/25. This figure is expected to reach 1.20 million tonnes in MY2025-26.
In fact, just look at the first seven months of 2025 alone and you will get to know that around 576,000 tonnes of palm oil came into Vietnam, 6% more than a year earlier. Indonesia and Malaysia remain the main suppliers.
Soybean oil is smaller, but it has been picking up pace too. Vietnam imported about 48,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2025 , which was 44% higher than the corresponding period a year earlier.
Those are not exactly small numbers.
And there is something else worth noticing. Not all this oil is going straight into retail bottles. Quite a bit of it sits further back in the chain — refining, food processing, industrial use and bulk distribution.
That is where Vietnam's edible-oil buyers become interested.
Palm oil is the big one . The 2024 trade figures make that fairly hard to miss.
Indonesia supplied Vietnam with about 644.95 million kg of palm oil under HS code 151190 which was worth roughly US$590.67 million. Malaysia added another 426.00 million kg, valued at about US$401.18 million.
Put those two together and you're looking at more than 1.07 billion kg. The reason is not particularly mysterious. Indonesia and Malaysia are nearby, palm production is concentrated there and the shipping routes are already well established.
Soybean oil tells a slightly different story. USDA puts Vietnam's imports at around ,80,000 tonnes in both MY2024/25 and MY2025/26.
So if you're trying to identify edible-oil buyers in Vietnam, don't stop at the names printed on cooking-oil bottles.
The actual buyer might be a refinery.
It might be supplying food manufacturers.
Or it might be buying raw material for an industrial customer.
That changes the picture.
Vietnam does produce its own oilseeds, and it has a fairly well-established vegetable-oil processing industry to go with them. But that doesn't mean the country can run entirely on domestic supply. There is still a sizable gap to fill.
Vocarimex's own industry information puts domestic raw materials at around 30% of total requirement. The remaining 70% comes from imports . Palm oil and soybean oil are among the important materials in that mix.
And this is where the story gets a little more interesting.
The oil doesn't necessarily stop at the refinery gate. Once it comes in, it can find its way into several other industries. Vocarimex, for instance, supplies olein, shortening, refined soybean oil, crude soybean oil and other raw materials to businesses in dairy, confectionery, seafood and vegetable-oil manufacturing.
So, what looks like a straightforward import of edible oil is actually part of a much wider industrial chain.
There is quite a bit happening behind that cooking-oil shelf.
The companies buying or processing edible oil in Vietnam are not all doing the same thing.
Some are major consumer brands. Others have refineries, storage facilities and industrial customers sitting behind those brands.
| Company | Main Edible-Oil Business | Trade Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| CALOFIC | Cooking oils, industrial oils, specialty products | Large vegetable-oil manufacturer |
| Vocarimex | Crude/refined oils, olein, soybean oil | Major industrial raw-material supplier |
| Tuong An | Cooking oils, soybean oil, refined oils | Major KIDO edible-oil business |
| KIDO Nha Be | Vegetable oils and fats | B2B/commercial oil business |
| An Long Food | Vegetable-oil production | Large processor and importer |
CALOFIC has been in Vietnam's vegetable-oil industry since 1996. Its factories in Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City have a combined production capacity of around 2,300 tonnes per day . The company makes consumer oils, industrial oils, mixed oils and margarine.
The industrial side is the more interesting bit for a bulk supplier.
CALOFIC lists RBD palm oil among its products and supplies it in road tankers, ISO tanks and flexibags for applications ranging from bakery and confectionery to noodles and dairy.
So “palm oil” is hardly the end of the conversation.
It is where the conversation starts.
Vocarimex has a somewhat different role.
It is closely involved with the raw-material side of Vietnam's vegetable-oil industry, supplying crude and refined oils to manufacturers. Its product range includes olein, shortening, refined soybean oil and crude soybean oil.
The company also operates the Nha Be vegetable-oil port and storage facilities.
For someone selling in bulk, that combination is worth a closer look.
Tuong An is part of KIDO's edible-oil business, with cooking oil, soybean oil, nutritional oils and other vegetable-oil products.
KIDO Nha Be sits more towards the B2B side. KIDO's 2024 corporate reporting places Tuong An, Vocarimex and KIDO Nha Be within its wider oil business.
An Long was established in 2007 and operates a vegetable-oil factory in Long An with stated capacity of 700 tonnes per day.
It also has a 100-metre specialised wharf on the Vam Co Dong River , capable of receiving vessels of around 3,000-5,000 tonnes.
The company says it imports oil for physical and chemical refining.
That last detail is important. The imported material is part of the manufacturing operation itself.
Palm oil takes up most of the attention, but the basket is wider.
The main products include:
For someone supplying in bulk, the difference between these products is more than a matter of naming.
Take palm products.
It is easy to put RBD palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin under one broad label and call them palm oil. A buyer cannot really work that way. They are different products, and the factory usually has a reason for asking for one rather than another.
The same goes for soybean oil and specialty oils.
The specification tells you what the buyer actually needs.
| HS Code | Product |
|---|---|
| 150710 | Crude soybean oil |
| 150790 | Soybean oil other than crude |
| 151110 | Crude palm oil |
| 151190 | Palm oil other than crude and its liquid fractions |
| 151211 | Crude sunflower/safflower oil |
| 151219 | Sunflower/safflower oil other than crude |
| 151590 | Other fixed vegetable oils and fats |
| 151620 | Hydrogenated or modified vegetable fats and oils |
The exact Vietnamese tariff line should be checked against the actual product before the export contract is finalised.
It is a small detail.
Until it isn't.
Cai Mep is an important name here.
PETEC Cai Mep handles liquid cargo including oil and vegetable oil. It has five tanks with around 80,000 cubic metres of storage and can receive vessels of up to 60,000 DWT.
For a bulk shipment, those details eventually become part of the buying conversation.
Which vessel? Which terminal? Where does the oil go after discharge?
It is better to settle those questions before the ship arrives.
CALOFIC operates a specialised liquid-cargo facility at Hiep Phuoc, Nha Be, in Ho Chi Minh City. The facility handles vegetable oil and can receive vessels up to 20,000 DWT.
Vocarimex operates a specialised vegetable-oil port at Nha Be, with storage facilities and the ability to receive vessels of around 5,000 tonnes.
For pre-packaged processed food, Vietnam's rules generally require product self-declaration. The documentation includes a food-safety test result from a designated or ISO 17025-accredited laboratory.
But there is a wrinkle.
Raw materials brought in solely for export production, export processing or internal production, and not sold domestically, can be exempt from self-declaration.
So before getting buried in paperwork, establish what the oil is actually being imported for.
Imported food can go through reduced, normal or tightened inspection under Vietnam's food-safety framework.
The route depends on the shipment and the circumstances of the importer.
Either way, the testing documents should not be an afterthought.
Under Decree 43/2017/ND-CP , imported goods that do not carry the required Vietnamese information need supplementary Vietnamese labels. Product name, responsible organisation, origin and other applicable details have to be covered.
Bulk oil is a different case.
If it is coming in as an unpackaged raw material for further processing, the retail-label requirements do not necessarily apply in the same way.
A tanker of oil heading into a refinery is not quite the same thing as a five-litre bottle sitting on a supermarket shelf.
Vietnam has also brought in QCVN 29:2026/BCT that covers vegetable oils. It deals with
The timing matters. The regulation was issued on 26 February 2026 , but it is scheduled to take effect on 1 December 2026.
So, as of October 2026, exporters have a little time to get their documentation and processes lined up.
Price will probably be the first thing on the table. That's normal. Nobody starts a bulk buying discussion without looking at the numbers.
But the price is only the beginning.
Once a Vietnamese buyer is genuinely considering a shipment, the conversation usually gets more specific. What oil is it? Which grade? Is it crude or refined? Where is it coming from? What quantity can you commit to? Which port will receive it? How soon can you ship? And what are the delivery terms?
A quotation can answer some of these questions. The buyer will want the rest answered before placing a serious order.
Take the product itself. Calling something “palm oil” is not always enough. RBD palm oil, palm olein and palm stearin have different uses, and a manufacturer buying for a particular production line will know exactly which one it needs.
Then there is consistency.
A supplier may offer the sharper price and still lose the business if shipment dates keep moving or the specification changes from one lot to another. Another supplier may be slightly more expensive but easier for the buyer to plan around.
For a factory working with large volumes, that difference can matter.
Because the cheapest quotation is not always the cheapest option once delays, mismatched specifications and uncertainty enter the picture.
India has the geography and a large vegetable-oil industry.
But look at the existing palm-oil trade and the picture becomes rather clear. Indonesia supplied Vietnam with about 644.95 million kg under HS 151190 in 2024, while Malaysia supplied another 426.00 million kg . India's recorded quantity under that line was only around 100 kg.
That does not mean Indian suppliers have no opening.
It simply means competing with Southeast Asian suppliers on sheer palm-oil volume may not be the obvious route.
A refined product can be different.
A specialty oil can be different.
And sometimes a buyer is looking for something as simple — and as difficult — as a supplier who can consistently deliver what was promised.
Finding company names is the easy part. The more useful questions come afterwards.
Is the buyer genuine? What does the company actually buy? Which exactly is the grade? How much? Crude or refined? Which port? This is what matters for the DB trade. That is why a long list of “Vietnam edible oil buyers” does not necessarily tell an exporter very much.
Tradologie can facilitate B2B discussions between edible-oil buyers and suppliers around specifications, quantities, pricing and delivery requirements, with buyers and sellers negotiating the commercial terms directly on the platform.
Vietnam's palm-oil imports were estimated at 1.14 million tonnes in MY2024/25 and are expected to reach 1.20 million tonnes in MY2025/26. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the main suppliers. In 2024, Indonesia supplied about 644.95 million kg under HS 151190, while Malaysia supplied around 426 million kg. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam
The source highlights CALOFIC, Vocarimex, Tuong An, KIDO Nha Be and An Long Food among major companies involved in edible-oil processing, refining and B2B supply. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam.
The market includes palm oil, RBD palm oil, palm olein, palm stearin, soybean oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed/canola oil, coconut oil, other vegetable oils and specialty fats. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam.
PETEC Cai Mep, CALOFIC's specialised Hiep Phuoc facility and Vocarimex's Nha Be Vegetable Oil Port are important bulk-oil handling facilities. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam
Requirements can include product self-declaration, food-safety testing, Vietnamese supplementary labels and applicable conformity and traceability requirements. QCVN 29:2026/BCT covers refined vegetable oils and is scheduled to take effect on 1 December 2026. Edible Oil Importers in Vietnam.
