Palm oil imports surge by over 68pc in July

ISLAMABAD: The palm oil imports into the country surged by 68.56 percent during the month of July 2017 compared to the same month of the last year.

Pakistan imported palm oil worth $176.600 million in July 2017 compared to the imports of $104.771 million in July 2016, showing growth of 68.56 percent, according to latest trade data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

On month-on-month basis, the palm imports increased by 11.05 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $159.034 million in June 2017.

In terms of quantity, the palm oil imports soared by 62.33 percent by growing from 150,728 metric tons in July 2016 to 244,671 metric tons in July 2017.

While on month-on-month basis, the imports of the commodity increased by 11.71 percent in July when compared to the imports of 219,032 metric tons in June 2017, the data revealed.

Meanwhile, the soyabean oil imports into the country surged by 175.5 percent by growing from $15.304 million in July 2016 to $42.163 million in July 2017.

On month on month basis, the soyabean oil imports increased by 311.31 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $10.251 million in June 2017, according to the data.

In terms of quantity, the palm oil imports into the country increased by 397.34 percent in July 2017 by growing from 11,137 metric tons during July 2016 to 55,389 metric tons in July 2017.

On month-on-month basis, the soyabean imports into the country increased by 467.74 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of 9,756 metric tons in June 2017.

Overall food imports into the country increased by 43.15 percent in July 2017 compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The food group imports into the country in July 2017 stood at $534.693 million as against the imports of $373.512 million.

On month-on-month basis, the food imports into the country increased by 9.51 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $488.240 million in June 2017, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandise imports during the first month of the current fiscal year (July 2017) increased by 36.74 percent compared to July 2016.

The imports into the country during July 2017 were recorded at $4.835 billion compared to the imports of $3.536 billion.

On the other hand, the exports from the country witnessed 10.58 percent increase compared to the corresponding month of last year.

Pakistan exported goods worth $1.631 billion in July 2017 compared to the exports of $1.475 billion in July 2016, showing upward growth of 10.58 percent.

Based on the figures, the traded deficit during July 2017 was recorded at $3.204 billion, which shows growth of 55.46 percent when compared to the deficit of $2.061 billion during July 2016.