Import of 180,000T palm oil for July likely

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan may import as much as 180,000 tonnes of palm oil for July and has covered a lot of its requirement of the vegetable oil ahead of Ramazan, a top industry official said on Wednesday. Ramazan will start in the first week of August, boosting edible oil consumption in the country. Pakistan has already covered a lot for the Ramazan requirement by buying huge volumes for June and July shipment, Rasheed Janmohammad, vice chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association, told Reuters. It is expected that Pakistans June volume would be around 150,000 tonnes and for July, it could be between 175,000 and 180,000 tonnes. Pakistan, the worlds fourth-largest buyer of vegetable oils, imports 80 percent of its palm oil, with Malaysia providing roughly 90 percent of that and the rest coming from Indonesia. Janmohammad, however, pointed out that Pakistani importers, who stocked up for Ramazan at high rates, had taken a hit as global palm oil prices dipped in the past 10 days. Malaysian palm oil futures rose 1.5 percent on Wednesday as traders continued to adjust their positions and eye strong export data after the market fell to an eight-month low earlier this week. It has dropped about 5 percent in 10 trading sessions. Malaysia the worlds No.2 palm oil producer shipped 109,885 tonnes of palm oil products between June 1-25 to Pakistan, according to the Malaysian cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance. Janmohammad said about 15,000 tonnes was likely to come from Indonesia. Pakistan charges 15 percent less duty than the standard rate on Malaysian crude palm oil import under a 2007 tariff agreement. Indonesia had been pushing Pakistan for the same terms, but talks betwaen the two countries on a preferential trade agreement have hit a deadlock. Pakistan imported 1.79 million tonnes of palm oil products and crude palm oil in the first eleven months of the 2010/11 (July-June) fiscal year, up more than 16 percent from the same period a year ago, according to official estimates. Pakistans annual edible oil consumption is more than three million tonnes.