Soybean and Palm Oil Imports Skyrocket During Eight Months

During the first eight months of the current financial year, imports of edible oil, including Soybean and Palm oil, have risen significantly. Soybean oil imports surged by 148.67%, while Palm oil imports grew by 9.87% compared to the same period last year.

During the July-February period in 2022-23, imports of Soybean oil into the country saw an impressive 148.67% increase. Over 140,120 metric tonnes of Soybean oil costing $203.578 million was imported to meet local requirements - compared to just 62,750 metric tonnes worth $81.866 million during the same period last year.

Imports of Palm oil increased during this period compared to the same time last year. Over 2.151 million metric tonnes worth $2.681 billion were imported in the period under review, which was up from the imports of 2.037 million metric tonnes valuing $2.440 billion the previous year.

According to the statistics provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, imports of food items into the country rose by 3.98% during the first eight months of the current financial year - amounting to $6.687 billion compared to imports of $6.431 billion from the same period last year.

Conversely, exports of food commodities from the country during July-February 2022-23 had a negative growth rate of 6.08%, reaching $3.226 billion instead of $3.434 billion in 2021 on the same period-on-period basis.

Imports of tea, dry fruits, and nuts decreased in the past year, with a 6.45 percent drop in tea shipments, 43.43 percent fewer nuts and a 34.31 percent decrease in spices compared to last year's imports. Around 159,562 metric tonnes of tea were imported costing $396.499 million compared to last year's 177,613 metric tonnes valued at $423.857 million.