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Malaysia asked to increase palm oil export to
Pakistan
Staff Reporter
Islamabad—Pakistan hopes Malaysia will increase the quota for crude
palm oil exports to the country to meet rising domestic demand.
Pakistan Oil Refiners’ Association vice-chairman Abdul Rasheed
Janmohammad said currently Pakistan was importing about 1.8 million
tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) from Indonesia and Malaysia, of which
65 percent was from Malaysia.
He hoped Malaysian CPO export to Pakistan would be increased to 80
percent.
“The demand mostly comes from our local refining industry. We have
developed palm oil refineries in Pakistan over the last three years
which are operating at 5,000-tonne capacity a day,” he told reporters
on the sidelines of the Second International Palm Oil Trade Fair and
Seminar 2008.
Earlier, Janmohammad presented a working paper entitled “Pakistan Oils
& Fat Business: Market Expectations and Anticipations”, which touched
on the country’s edible oil market and factors affecting prices in the
market.
The Islamic state, with a population of 164 million, was dependent on
edible oil imports to meet local demand, with a total consumption of
three million tonnes.
Janmohammad said the demand for palm oil had surged due to falling CPO
prices and to stock up for the upcoming Ramadan fasting month.
“We have had discussions with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on the
matter. This is one of the issues we highlighted,” he was quoted as
saying in a report.
On CPO prices, he said, the price would be between RM2,400 and RM2,700
a tonne for the rest of the year if crude oil price hovers between
US$100 and US$110 per barrel.
However, if crude oil does not come down and remain in the range of
US$120 and US$130 a barrel, the CPO price would likely be between
RM2,700 and RM3,000 per tonne, he added. |
