03/04/2013 (Business Recorder) - Global palm oil demand is set to rise in coming months because of attractive prices and plentiful supplies compared to rival edible oils such as soyaoil, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday. Global October 2012-September 2013 palm oil imports are likely to rise to 43.19 million tonnes from 40.31 million tonnes in the same year ago period, Oil World estimated in a report.

Global October 2012-September 2013 imports of palmkernel oil will rise to 3.39 million tonnes from 3.05 million tonnes a year earlier, it forecast. "Consumption fundamentals for palm and palmkernel oil will be very favourable in the second half of 2012/13 owning to the insufficient supplies of other oils and fats as well as the still unusually wide price discounts of palm oil," Oil World said.

Crude palm oil for May/June delivery was on Tuesday quoted at $855 a tonne cif Rotterdam against about $1,100 a tonne for soyaoil for delivery from crushing mills in north Europe. Large palm stocks believed to available at the end of March means Oil World estimates global supplies of palm oil and palmkernel oil will total 42.8 million tonnes in April/September 2013, up 3.5 million tonnes on the same period last year. China and India are likely to be among the major importers in coming months, it said. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world's largest palm oil exporters.