Bloomberg | October 16, 2012

Indonesia gaining palm-oil sales in Pakistan, Dalda Foods says

Indonesia, the largest palm-oil producer, has been gaining market share in Pakistan and may extend its position after a free-trade agreement, or FTA, comes into effect, according to Dalda Foods Pakistan, an importer.

The country’s share of the market in the third-largest buyer has risen from 1 percent in 2010 to 10 percent last year and about 23 percent this year to August, Executive Director Inam Bari said in an interview today. The balance of the shipments is from Malaysia, the second-largest exporter, he said.

“More palm oil will be from Indonesia,” Bari said in Kuala Lumpur, where’s he’s attending a conference. Dalda Foods is a processor that imports and produces cooking oils. “They need the market,” Bari said.

Pakistan’s FTA with Indonesia was signed in September last year. Under the treaty, Pakistan will cut the duty it levies on palm oil, Commerce Secretary Zafar Mahmood said then. That tax cut has not been implemented, according to Inam, who said Indonesia’s shipments have been increasing after the Southeast Asian country changed its own export-tax structure.