The Ministry of Commerce has directed the High Commission of Pakistan (Malaysia) to facilitate the Pakistani business community and industry in obtaining a smooth supply of palm oil from Malaysia to avoid its shortage in Pakistan.
A communique of the High Commission of Pakistan in Malaysia to the Secretary of Commerce revealed that the Commerce Ministry is well aware of the crisis regarding edible oil in consequence of the Ukraine war and the ban on the export of palm oil by Indonesia.
The prime minister had constituted a task force with the mandate to keep the supply of palm oil in the local market unhindered, under the convenership of the Federal Minister for Commerce. In continuation of the two meetings of the task force, the Secretary of Commerce directed the Mission to help the traders get a smooth supply of palm oil from Malaysia as per their requirements.
The Mission requested the following information:
- How much quantity of palm oil is to be arranged from Malaysia on an urgent basis?
- What kind of Palm oil i.e. RBD palm oil or palm olein (its specs) is needed.
The Mission requested that the above information may be provided at the earliest so that the palm oil supply could be arranged.
The High Commission mentioned that the suppliers in Malaysia are commercial entities, hence, the importers would have to buy palm oil at spot price which is inching upwards with every passing day.
The Mission said that it has already contacted major suppliers and stakeholders like FGV, KLK, Cargill, Sime Darby, MPOC, and MPOB. The suppliers have assured a smooth supply of palm oil to Pakistani buyers. Further, the suppliers are interested to know the buyer-wise quantity required so that they could enter into commercial deals with them.
The suppliers have also advised going for future buying which will be at a much lesser price than spot rates.
Keeping in view the short supply of palm oil from Indonesia and the expected shortage of edible oil in the country, a task force was constituted by the Ministry of Commerce to avoid a shortage of the commodity in Pakistan.
