ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan may buy up to 170,000 tonnes of palm oil a month in the October-December quarter, a leading industry official said on Thursday, as traders earn profits on current stocks in a bull-run global market. Global vegetable oil markets hit their highest in more than two years on Thursday, with palm oil set to breach the key 3,000 ringgit resistance level on the weaker U.S. dollar and supply concerns. Pakistan made large palm oil purchases in September. Imports from Malaysia alone stood at 203,044 tonnes. When the market is on a bull-run, everybody is making margins on the current stocks, so they are buying, Rasheed Janmohammad, vice chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association, said. Buying will not be as good as in September but I think it will remain between 150,000-170,000 tonnes a month in the October-December quarter. Janmohammad expected overall buying for 2010 to be 10 percent higher as compared to 2009, when Pakistan imported about 3 million tonnes of palm oil, attributing the rise to a possible change in the consumption pattern. Traders, however, fear rising palm oil prices may discourage consumers back home, where inflation is increasing following devastating floods that drove up food prices. Inflation accelerated to a 17-month high in September. High-price palm oil consignments are due in the country later this month or in early November. Pakistan is the worlds fourth-largest buyer of vegetable oils and it imports a mix of refined and crude palm oil, mainly from Malaysia, but also from Indonesia, the world biggest producers. It consumes about 3 million tonnes of edible oil a year, but produces only 500,000-800,000 tonnes of cottonseed, rapeseed and sunflower, relying on imports to meet about 80 percent of demand. Traders expect lower domestic output this year after massive damage to cotton crops by floods. Apart from palm oil, Pakistan also bought 150,000 tonnes of oilseed in three cargoes for Oct-Nov shipment, with price ranging from $550 and $570 a tonne.