Pakistan to buy more Malaysian palm oil after India's withdrawal

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday, to try and compensate after top buyer India put curbs on Malaysian imports last month amid a diplomatic row.

India imposed general restrictions on refined palm oil imports, and informally asked traders specifically to stop buying from Malaysia, the world’s biggest producer of the edible oil. Sources said the move was in retaliation after Malaysia criticised India’s new religion-based citizenship law and its policy on Kashmir.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday that he discussed palm oil with Khan who was on a visit to Malaysia and that Pakistan had indicated it would import more from Malaysia.

“That’s right, especially since we noticed India threatened Malaysia for supporting the Kashmir cause, threatened to cut palm oil imports,” Khan told a joint news conference, referring to India-Occupied-Kashmir.

“Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that.”

Pakistan may have bought around 135,000 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil last month, a record high, dealers who track such shipments told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The figure is close to estimates of 141,500 tonnes from Refinitiv, which says sales to India in January may have plunged 80% from a year earlier to 40,400 tonnes.

Malaysia will release official export data on Monday.

Pakistan bought 1.1 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia last year, while India bought 4.4 million tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

India has repeatedly objected to Mahathir speaking out against its illegal annexation of Occupied Kashmir and its controversial citizenship amendment act.