Palm oil imports increase 29.4pc to $876 million in 5 months

ISLAMABAD: The palm oil imports increased by 29.40 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year against the imports of the same period of last year.

The palm oil imports during July-November (2020-21) were recorded at $876.016 million against the imports of $676.977 million during July-November (2019-20), showing increase of 29.40 percent, according to latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, Pakistan imported 1,333,423 metric tons of palm oil during the period under review as compared to the imports of 1,230,502 metric tons last year, showing increase of 8.36 percent.

On the other hand, the soyabean oil imports also increased by 21.76 percent by going up from $39.677 million last year to $48.310 during the current fiscal year.

In terms of quantity, the soyabean oil imports increased from 57,553 metric tons to 72,756 metric tons, showing an increase of 26.42 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the palm oil imports increased by 25.04 percent in November 2020 as compared to the imports of November 2019. The palm oil imports were recorded at $213.049 million in November 2020 against the imports of $170.391 million in November 2019, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the palm oil imports into the country increased by 153.75 percent in November 2020 when compared to the imports of 83.959 million in October 2020.

However, the soyabean imports on year-on-year basis decreased by 98.01 percent, from $5.990 million in November 2019 to $0.119 million in November 2020.

On month-on-month basis, the soyabean imports witnessed decrease of 91.19 percent in November 2020 as compared to the imports of $1.350 million in October 2020, according to the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 2.21 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports during July-November (2020-21) were recorded at $9.747 billion against the exports of $9.536 billion in July-November (2019-20), showing growth of 2.21 percent according to PBS data.

The imports during the period under review also increased 1.63 percent by going up from $19.175 billion last year to $19.487 billion during the current fiscal year.

Based on the figures, there has been slight increase of 1.05 percent in the trade deficit during the period under review as it was recorded at $9.740 billion as compared to the deficit of $9.639 billion during last year.