Imports of soya bean oil into the country during the first five months of the current financial year decreased by 10.01 per cent and palm oil increased by 7.13 per cent as compared to the imports of the corresponding period of the last year.
During the period from July-November 2024, over 74,385 metric tons of soya bean costing $73.647 million were imported to tackle the local requirements as against the imports of 74,745 metric tons valued at $81.840 million in the same period of last year, according to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
However, the imports of palm oil into the country during the period under review grew by 7.13 per cent as 1.319 million metric tons of palm oil worth of $1.259 billion were imported to fulfill the domestic requirements as compared to the imports of 1.248 billion metric tons valued at $1.175 billion of the same period of the last year.
On month on month basis, the import of edible oil including soya bean and palm into the country during the month of November 2024 grew by 113.99 per cent and 11.69 per cent respectively as compared to the imports of the same month of last year.
In November 2024, over 15,045 metric tons of soya bean valued at $15.138 million were imported as against the imports of 6,410 metric tons worth $7.047 million in the same month of the last year.
During the last month of the current financial year over 234,885 metric tons of palm oil costing $235.590 million were imported as compared to the imports of 231,701 metric tons valued at $210.932 million of the same month of the last year.
It is worth mentioning here that the food group exports from the country during the first 05 months of the current financial year grew by 19.58 per cent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of the last year.
During the period from July-November, 2024, food commodities worth $3.155 billion were exported as compared to the exports of $2.638 billion of the same period of the last year.
On the other hand, the food group imports into the country during the period under review decreased by 11.13 per cent and it was recorded at $2.977 billion as against the imports of $3.350 billion of the corresponding period of the last year.