13/08/2008 (The News International), Kuala Lumpur - Pakistan has delayed some palm oil purchases for the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, after covering 75 per cent of its needs, as traders pause to see where plunging prices will stabilise, a trade official said on Tuesday.

Mainly Muslim Pakistan, the world’s fourth largest buyer of vegetable oils, consumes about 3 million tonnes of edible oils each year, relying on imports to meet about 80 per cent of demand.

Palm oil imports for the July-September period are expected to exceed 375,000 tonnes because the Muslim fasting month begins in early September, Rasheed Jan Mohammed, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association, told Reuters.

“The only concern is that Pakistan will keep on delaying their purchases until the market stabilises,” he said in a telephone interview from the country’s port city of Karachi. “Those who already bought are repenting, so the wait-and-see game is going on.”

Jan Mohammed’s estimate is about 39 per cent higher than the 270,000 tonnes Pakistan bought in the same 2007 period, according to figures from cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance. The difference is due to Pakistan’s lower oilseed reserves this year, Jan Mohammed said.

Traders said the estimate of 25 per cent of Ramazan demand remaining uncovered fell within expectations and underscored the dilemma consumer countries faced from falling prices.