Speakers call for local palm oil production

KARACHI:

Speakers urged the government to cultivate palm oil to produce palm oil locally, meet domestic demand and reduce over 90% dependence on Indonesia and Malaysia. They stressed the need for immediate action as both Indonesia and Malaysia consume more and more palm oil for biodiesel, raising concerns of an acute shortage in the coming years.

They expressed these views during the two-day event titled ‘7th Pakistan Edible Oil Conference (PEOC) 2025’, held at a local hotel on Saturday. Speakers pointed out that Indonesia stopped exporting palm oil globally a few years ago, causing a severe shortage in Pakistan. “Domestic production is the only viable solution to this recurring issue. The government must seriously focus on local palm oil plantations without delay,” experts say. Federal Minister for Industries, Directorate of Production and National Food Security and Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain, also highlighted the importance of domestic edible oil production, noting that Pakistan imports 3 million metric tonnes of edible oil annually. He said edible oil imports constitute the country’s second largest import bill after petroleum products.

“Unfortunately, domestic production is very low, resulting in 90% dependence on edible oil imports. The edible oil industry must take the lead in boosting local production,” he said. Westbury Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of Pakistan Refiners Association of Notifications (PEORA), Abdul Rasheed JanMohammad, said that Pakistan has overbought palm oil/palm oil for December shipments and arrival figures will become evident in January. He noted that the country had also secured supplies of soybean oil from December 2024 to March 2025 due to its lower prices compared to palm oil.

“Crude oil remains a political commodity, with prices fluctuating based on geopolitical factors. Malaysia’s December 2024 palm oil stocks stood at 1.708 million tonnes, but production is expected to decline between November and March, possibly further reducing stocks.” , he said. He explained that sunflower and canola oil prices, which were previously lower than soybean oil, have now surpassed it due to growing conditions. “Pakistan would have imported more soybean oil if local import tariffs were more competitive with palm oil,” he added.

JanMohammad also noted that the PEOC was held at an opportune time as markets face considerable uncertainty. “Current fundamentals do not fully justify price increases, but stronger equities are currently driving the market amid skepticism about Indonesian production,” he observed.

Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) President Shaikh Umer Rehan reiterated the need to urgently boost edible oil production. He pointed out that the coastal zones of Sindh and Balochistan are particularly suitable for the production of sunflower oil.

“We import edible oil worth about $4.50 billion annually, including over 3 million tonnes of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia. About 1 million metric tonnes of palm oil has been produced locally in Sindh and Punjab over the past two decades. We need to work more difficult to increase this rate,” said Rehan. He urged the government to offer attractive incentives and subsidies to private investors for palm oil cultivation Refuting the misjudgment of the low growth of oil palm in Pakistan, he said that the country has huge potential if there is a strong will Pakistan,” he said, calling for local production of edible oil.Rehan warned that the increasing use of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia for biodiesel could leave Pakistan unable to import from these two major producers in the coming years. “Given this pressing concern, the government must tackle this issue on a war footing to prevent an impending shortage of palm oil,” he said.