Pakistan's palm oil market was stable on Wednesday against the previous week as importers placed buying orders for the month ahead, and dealers said the market had room for more imports.
"The imports and prices both are likely to rise in coming days as the domestic market is following a rising world market," said Zia Ahmed, a dealer in Karachi.
Dealers said importers were placing orders for May shipments and a bullish Malaysian crude palm oil futures market also stabilised local prices.
Traders had around 70,000 tonnes of unsold stock to meet domestic demand and had made forward deals securing their positions until the end of April.
Dealers said the Pakistani market was likely to see some good buying in coming weeks because traders were also building stocks in anticipation of an increase in world prices.
"Imports have also risen because cotton seed oil supplies have almost come to an end," said another Karachi-based dealer.
Pakistan produced 400,000 tonnes of cotton seed from its current cotton crop. Millers in Punjab province blend cotton seed with other vegetable oils for local consumption.
Traders said palm oil was quoted at 1,980 rupees per mound (37.32 kg) on Wednesday against 1,970 rupees a week ago.
Pakistan imports about 1.3 million tonnes of edible oil products annually, led by palm oil, mostly from Malaysia, to help meet domestic demand of 1.9 million tonnes.
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