By Razi Syed

KARACHI: In the first 15 days of December, Pakistan imported 68,700 metric tonnes of palm olien that ranked it as the second largest importer of the commodity after China, which imported 213,000 metric tonnes during same period, importers told Daily Times on Monday.

“Import increases around 20 percent in coming two months on the back of growing domestic demand and consumption due to decline in temperature in the country”, senior member of the Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA), Nasir Ibrahim said. The European Union (EU) imported around 114,000 metric tones during same period and ranked third.

The country import during November 2007 witnessed a surge of around 3.31 percent against import in same period last year, which stood at 189,159 metric tonnes.

As the international prices of palm oil surged by around $56 per tonne to $876-$890 per tonne, importers and millers paid around Rs 21 per kg more as Malaysian crude palm oil futures surged on increased international demand in exports.

Pakistan imported around $892 million worth of palm oil during July-June 2007 as against $717 million in the same period last year.

Mr Ibrahim said, “This was due to the higher domestic demand as it is going to rise on the back of Eid ul Azha”. He said however, Pakistan will reduce tariff on palm oil by 10 percent MOP on January 01, 2008. The prices of palm oil in the international market have witnessed an unprecedented increase. Malaysia and Pakistan sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) that is expected to boost Malaysian palm-oil exports.

Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil and counted Pakistan as its second-largest customer in the first eight months of this year. The importers have to pay around 45 percent duty on import value besides paying 50 percent import landing tax to the government, he added. Pakistan imports mostly Malaysian palm oil and olein to meet domestic demand of 1.99 million tonnes, as locally produced cottonseed meets rest of the demand. Edible oil import costs around $ 989 million every year.

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