KARACHI (February 26 2004): Palm oil demand in Pakistan is expected to rise in the coming week despite high international prices, because of low stocks, dealers said on Wednesday.

"Importers have already booked orders for the import of 60,000 tonnes of palm oil in February," a leading importer Akbar Puri told Reuters.

"In March, demand is expected to rise further."

Dealers said not much supply had come into the market in the past week as the local stock position had been hovering around 150,000 tonnes, but this was only enough to meet local demand for about a month.

They said supplies for orders booked in February would start arriving some time in the second week of March.

Puri said one ship carrying 10,000 tonnes of palm oil was expected to arrive on Thursday, while four more were being loaded in Malaysia.

While international prices remained strong, importers were increasing purchases to meet leftover demand from past months, he said.

Dealers said domestic prices had risen in line with international prices and were expected to remain strong.

Consumption of locally produced cottonseed oil also played a role in the surge of domestic prices, dealers said.

Pakistan produced 400,000 tonnes of cottonseed from its current cotton crop. Millers in Punjab province blend cottonseed with other vegetable oils for local consumption.

Dealers quoted palm oil at 1,960 rupees per mound (37.32 kg) on Wednesday against 1,915 rupees a week ago.

Pakistan imports about 1.3 million tonnes of edible oil products annually, led by palm oil, mostly from Malaysia, to help meet domestic demand of 1.9 million tonnes.

Courtesy Business Recorder