Palm products and oil seed imports have drained out in excess of $1 billion from the country during the last fiscal year (2005-06), trade sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday.
Sources said that commercial importers had imported around 1 million tonnes of oil seeds and 1.5 million tonnes of palm products during the last fiscal year, of which approximately, 1.2 million tonnes of RBD palm olien and 0.3 million tonnes of crude palm oil was brought in, respectively.
Senior traders said that the prices of palm products in the international market remained stagnant during the first 10 months (July05-April06) of the last financial year, however, it started climbing up during May and June 2006.
"The average price of RBD palm olien remained unchanged at $415 per ton to $425 per ton CNF Karachi during July05-April06, however, it witnessed a rise during May and June (2006) where it jumped by $25 per ton to $440-$450 per ton," said a leading importer.
He said that a number of countries have started setting up plants for the production of bio-diesel with palm fruits, including Singapore, Malaysia, China and some European countries, and this situation has helped the prices of palm products increase substantially.
Traders have pointed out that the government's attitude towards cultivation of sunflower seed in the country is non-serious as the country could save its precious foreign exchange and shed dependency on imported palm oil, if proper cultivation is done in the country.
"A study reveals that soil and weather conditions of Pakistan is favourable for sunflower seed cultivation," said a trader, adding that cultivation of sunflower seed is not on government's priority list.
"The country's annual seed production is still 150,000 tonnes from which nearly 75,000 tonnes of mustard oil is extracted after grinding," he added.
On the contrary, the country during the last fiscal year, imported around 0.8 million tonnes to 1 million tons, of which canola oil is extracted while the remaining stuff or seed waste is used for making poultry feed.
Gurus of this trade said that duty structure on imports of crude palm oil and palm olien has no difference and the importers have to pay Rs 9,000 per ton on account of import duty whether the imported commodity is crude palm oil or RBD palm olien.
The country's import of palm products depends on Malaysia and Indonesia, of which Malaysia enjoys the biggest chunk from where refined and crude products are being imported.
"The Malaysian government has slapped certain taxes on the export of crude palm oil and encourages the concept of value-addition," said a Karachi-based importer, adding: "That is why we (importers) prefer to import refined products from Malaysia. He also said that Indonesian suppliers mainly export crude palm oil because they are not bound to pay any tax.
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