By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan’s edible oil imports are on course to reach 3.4-3.5 million metric tonnes this year, a sharp increase from the 2.9-3 million tonnes imported annually between 2022 and 2024, as the country grapples with rising demand driven by population growth and modest economic recovery.
Speaking at the Indonesian Palm Oil Conference in Bali on Friday, Abdul Rasheed Jan Mohammed, chief executive officer of Westbury Group, one of Pakistan’s largest edible oil importers and processors, said imports for the January-October period had already hit 3.07 million tonnes, exceeding the roughly 3 million tonnes brought in for the whole of 2024. “This is a huge increase going on … and this is primarily because of the surge in the population growth and also certain economic development,” Jan Mohammed told delegates on the Indonesian resort island.
Pakistan also imported 2.2 million tonnes of oilseeds over the same 10-month period, underscoring the country’s heavy reliance on overseas supplies to meet cooking-oil needs. At a recent consultative meeting on edible oil sector regularisation, officials and industry participants noted that annual consumption now exceeds 4.5 million tonnes, with roughly 30%, equivalent to well over 1.35 million tonnes, sold as unbranded loose oil, predominantly in semi-urban and rural areas.
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