950816

Edible oil import

bill may go upto

$1.4 bn in 1995-96

HARIS ZAMIR

KARACHI: Pakistan spent about $ 996.990 million on the import of edible oil during 1994-95 as compared with $487.768 million in 1993-94, indicating a rise of 104.40 percent and due to higher cost and increase in consumption, the bill may go up to $ 1.4 billion in 1995-96, according to market sources.

The import figures reveal that the local blenders were fast switching from palm oil to soyabean oil. Soyabeen oil imports during the last fiscal year increased by 106.91 percent.

The main factor behind it was the government decision last November to reduce customs duty by Rs. 1,350 per tonne to Rs.7,600 from Rs.8,950 per tonne, on the demand of local manufacturers.

Local traders and multinationals imported 1.150 million tonnes of palm oil worth $830.500 million and 239,041 tonnes of soyabean oil valued at around $166.490 million in 1994-95, indicating a rise of 103.90 and 106.91 percent respectively.

Trade sources believed that the volume of edible oil import would go on rising unless effective measures were taken by the government for oilseeds production. They pointed out that the figures for the first month of the current year showed a significant rise in the import of edible oil. About 78,141 tonnes of edible oil worth $64.483 million was imported, which showed a net rise of 33.15 percent over the previous month. The import of soyabean oil during the month of July registered a quantum jump of 393.74 percent to $12.635 million as against $3.209 million of the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Despite the decline in import of palm oil/RBD to 63,163 tonnes last month from 84,386 tonnes of the same period last year, value of the commodity rose sharply to $51.848 million whereas about $45.219 million was spent in 1994-95. The main factor behind the appreciation was the rise in prices in the international market from $460 per tonne to $660 in July this year.

According to trade sources, the government is yet to make any concrete efforts to arrest this alarming trend. Though the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has claimed that cultivation of soyabean, palm and sunflower has been started, no results of the effort are visible so far.

Recently the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, has expressed the hope that the import bill may come down this year. According to him, efforts are under way to increase production of sunflower during the current year to 100,000 tonnes.

The government has taken drastic measures and it is likely that one million hectares of land have been made available for palm trees in Balochistan and the country would be able to export this commodity", Nawab Yousuf Talpur said.