UPTREND IN PALM OIL IMPORT BY BANGLADESH

By Shafiqul Bashar

DHAKA, June 16 (Bernama) -- Import of palm oil by Bangladesh has increased
by more than 12 percent this year compared to the 2008 volume.

But the statistics show that Malaysia needs to do more to increase exports
to the country.

During the first five months of this year, a total of 349,126 tonnes of palm
oil was imported while during the corresponding period of 2008, volume was
311,591 tonnes.

"Such an upward trend in palm oil import is expected to continue throughout
this year as well in 2010 due to increasing demand and competitive pricing,"
said Fakhrul Alam, Regional Manager of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC)
for Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal.

Palm oil imports by Bangladesh increased by 40 percent in 2008 and stood at
816,000 tonnes against 581,183 tonnes in 2007.

"This sharp rise was mainly due to reasonable pricing compared with the
higher price of soyabean oil, the main competitor for palm oil in Bangladesh,"
said importers.

Bangladesh is mainly import dependent in meeting its edible oil
requirement. Almost 90 percent of its annual need of about 1.3 million tonnes,is
met through the import of dominantly palm oil, followed by soyabean oil.

In 2008, a total of 1.1 million tonnes of oil and fats was imported by the
country.

Although the import of palm oil by Bangladesh surged from January-May this
year, the share of Malaysian palm oil (MPO) declined substantially during the
period compared to the corresponding period of 2008 while that of Indonesian
palm oil (IPO) increased.

The import share of MPO during the period was only nine percent against the
25 percent during the same period of 2008 with Indonesia taking up the balance.

According to local importers, the comparatively competitive pricing of IPO,
and the aggressive marketing strategy of suppliers, encouraged importers to
lean towards it.

"Malaysian palm oil can regain its share if exporters adopt an aggressive
marketing strategy like the Indonesians", said the Bangladeshi importers.
--BERNAMA