Pakistan's edible oil prices slipped over the past week and will remain low in coming weeks on plentiful stocks and lower demand, dealers said on Wednesday. Most market players were overbought and stocks were sufficient to meet demand, they said. "Most dealers have enough stocks to meet domestic requirements, which means there would be less imports," said Saulat Khan, a Karachi-based dealer.
"Also, the arrival of cheaper cotton seeds from the bumper cotton crop this season will slow down the import of palm oil," he said.
Domestic cotton seed is one of Pakistan's major sources of vegetable oil, which is mixed or blended with palm oil and soyaoil.
Imports had remained high in the past two months ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan, which is a period of high consumption of edible oils in Pakistan, when people prefer fried foods.
Dealers said fresh imports of about 100,000 tonnes were expected in December.
Pakistan has officially projected cotton production of 11.6 million bales (375 lb each) in the 2004/05 (April-February) crop year. At least 400,000 tonnes of cotton seed are expected to be produced.
Another dealer said good quality cotton seed from the new crop in Punjab province would slow down demand for imported palm oil, which is more expensive.
Pakistan imports about 800,000 tonnes of oilseeds and about 1.3 million tonnes of edible oil products annually, led by palm oil and palm olein.
The country's annual demand is 1.9 million tonnes.
Palm olein prices in the local market were quoted at 1,650 rupees per maund (37.32 kg), down from 1,660 last week.
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