Pakistan's domestic edible oil prices fell sharply over the past week in line with international trends, which would boost imports in coming weeks, dealers said on Thursday.
"The bear run internationally is pushing down the prices in the domestic market," said Akber Puri, a leading importer in the port city of Karachi.
"The prices have fallen too quickly and too much in the last week or so," he said.
Dealers said domestic stocks were running down, with less than 75,000 tonnes of edible oil available in the country at present.
Anas Ali, another dealer in Karachi, said a number of big players were making spot deals to cover their stock positions.
"Most of the buyers are interested in spot deals because of current soft world prices," he added.
Domestic stocks had shrunk because of relatively lower imports in May, when around 40,000 tonnes of palm oil and palm olien were imported from Malaysia, against normal monthly imports of 90,000 to 100,000 tonnes.
Ali said expectations of further falls in palm oil price in Malaysia would keep importers active in the near term.
Traders quoted palm olein at 1,875 rupees per maund (37.32 kg), against 1,915 rupees last week.
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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