Palm oil imports seen slow in Oct-Dec

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan made heavy purchases of palm oil for August and September but buying will slow in the October-December quarter partly because of stocks and the arrival of the cottonseed crop, an industry official said on Thursday.

Pakistan, after a long pause, has also placed orders for about 95,000 tons of oilseeds for October shipment that will also cut demand for palm oil imports, said Rasheed Janmohammad, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association.

“Pakistan has bought very well for August and September and the buying is not less than 150,000 tons a month,” Janmohammad told Reuters.

“About 80 to 85 per cent of it will be Malaysian.”

But most cargoes for August would be shipped in September because of the tight availability of freight on rising demand in the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan, which began on Sunday, and for the Indian festival of Diwali in October, he said.

Pakistan, the world’s fourth-largest buyer of vegetable oils, imports a mix of refined and crude palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, the world biggest producers.

It consumes about 3 million tons of edible oil a year, but produces only 500,000-800,000 tons of cottonseed, rapeseed and sunflower, relying on imports to meet about 80 per cent of demand.

As the August shipment would arrive in September, when Ramazan will be nearing an end, Pakistan will have a carryover stock in October, meaning less need for imports.

The cottonseed crop, due in November/December, and the import of oilseed would also mean less imports of palm oil for the last quarter, he said.

Janmohammad said Pakistan had recently bought three cargoes of oilseed consisting of 60,000 tons of sunflower and about 30,000 to 35,000 tons of canola for October shipment.

Two parcels of 30,000 tons each of sunflower seed were purchased at between $396 and $405 a ton and the canola oilseed at $442 a ton, he said.