Pakistan buys less palm oil in June -trader: Reuters

ISLAMABAD, July 9 (Reuters) - Pakistan's June palm oil imports slid below 100,000 tonnes on a lack of demand and an uncertain international market, but buying has picked up in July, an industry official said on Thursday.

Demand had been been in a lull for the past three months, particularly in the northwest, where troops were battling Taliban militants, Rasheed Janmohammad, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners' Association, said.

In addition, low intake in rural areas during the wheat harvesting season and a lack of confidence in the global market accounted for the slower buying, he said.

"There has been less buying of palm oil crude, RBD palm oil and palm olein...it was less than 100,000 tonnes (in June)."

Pakistan's palm oil imports fell 15.49 percent to 126,951 tonnes in May from the same month in 2008, and were 25 percent lower than April, official data showed.

Pakistan, the world's fourth-largest importer of vegetable oil, buys a mix of refined and crude palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's biggest producers.

It consumes about 3 million tonnes of edible oil a year, but produces only 500,000-800,000 tonnes of cottonseed, rapeseed and sunflower, relying on imports to meet about 80 percent of demand.

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