India's AWL Agri expects US tariff cuts to boost oil, basmati rice exports

India's AWL Agri Business AWLA.NS, previously known as Adani Wilmar, expects lower U.S. duties to help boost exports of its Fortune-branded basmati rice and edible oils to the United States, a top executive said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with India that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

AWL Agri, which brings in 8% of its sales from exports, plans to better leverage its distributors and Singapore parent Wilmar International's network to expand its U.S. reach, Executive Deputy Chairman Angshu Mallick told Reuters.

It earns roughly 5% of export revenue from the United States and expects that share to rise after the tariff cut, though Mallick said the company still needs to review the fine print of the new trade deal.

For fiscal 2026, Mallick said AWL's revenue should cross 715 billion rupees ($7.91 billion), while analysts polled by LSEG project 708.6 billion rupees.

Indian consumer goods makers have highlighted a rebound in demand after several subdued quarters, as the government's consumption tax cuts went into effect at the end of September.

Sales volumes in AWL's mainstay edible oil business increased 8% during the December quarter, with overall revenue climbing 10% to a record 186.03 billion rupees.

However, profit slumped 35% to 2.69 billion rupees as a one-off gain from commodity price increases boosted the company's earnings in the year-ago quarter.

High commodity prices typically hurt packaged cooking oil makers by forcing price increases that squeeze sales, though holding lower-cost inventory can boost profits when market prices rise.

AWL Agri changed its name from Adani Wilmar last March after Adani Group exited the joint venture by selling its stake to Singapore's Wilmar WLIL.SI.

($1 = 90.3500 Indian rupees)

-Praveen Paramasivam and Mridula Kumar/Reuters