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KUALA LUMPUR: Egypt's palm oil demand will rise by a tenth to about 880,000 tonnes this year, as trading houses shore up supplies at a time of stagnant oilseed output and the country is recovering from political upheaval, a Cairo-based trader said on Tuesday, March 1.
Stubbornly high food prices and high unemployment fuelled public anger against the government that eventually ousted Hosni Mubarak as president last month.
"Whether there is a protest or not, palm oil demand will have to grow," Mohamed Mamoun, senior manager of ARECO told Reuters ahead of the Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference next week.
"This year, it will be slightly more than usual because the imported palm oil stock levels are a little tight now and domestic oilseed production is not so good," he said via telephone from Cairo
STILL OPERATING
Mamoun said refining and crushing plants are still in operation, allaying earlier concerns by the U.S. soybean industry that the disruptions to the Egyptian economy may slow demand for vegetable oil and grains demand.
Egypt is the largest importer of palm oil on the eastern side of the Suez canal, taking up 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes yearly of mostly refined palm olein used in cooking oil.
But its import volumes for palm oil are smaller compared to India, the world's top palm oil buyer, which takes up half a million tonnes a month.
ARECO is one of the major vegetable oil traders and distributors in Egypt along with IFFCO, Loders Croklaan -- a unit of Malaysia's IOI Corp and Safia International that belongs to Savola Group .
The firm buys vegetable oil cargoes, including soyoil and sunflower oil, from global suppliers like Archer Daniels Midlands .
Production of cottonseed, the major domestic oilseed crop crushed into cooking oil, has been on the decline, but a bigger soybean crop will compensate the declines.
Mamoun did not give a projection for harvests but said soyoil imports would slow a little.
"The government will tender for soyoil but it will be less than usual," he said. "Palm oil will fill most gaps."
U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed that, soyoil imports in the last marketing year to September 2010 fell 21 percent from a year ago.
Egypt imports soyoil and sunflower and sells the vegetable oils at subsidised prices. Ration card holders are allowed half a kilogram of edible oils per month, industry officials say. - Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR: Egypt's palm oil demand will rise by a tenth to about 880,000 tonnes this year, as trading houses shore up supplies at a time of stagnant oilseed output and the country is recovering from political upheaval, a Cairo-based trader said on Tuesday, March 1.
Stubbornly high food prices and high unemployment fuelled public anger against the government that eventually ousted Hosni Mubarak as president last month.
"Whether there is a protest or not, palm oil demand will have to grow," Mohamed Mamoun, senior manager of ARECO told Reuters ahead of the Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference next week.
"This year, it will be slightly more than usual because the imported palm oil stock levels are a little tight now and domestic oilseed production is not so good," he said via telephone from Cairo
STILL OPERATING
Mamoun said refining and crushing plants are still in operation, allaying earlier concerns by the U.S. soybean industry that the disruptions to the Egyptian economy may slow demand for vegetable oil and grains demand.
Egypt is the largest importer of palm oil on the eastern side of the Suez canal, taking up 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes yearly of mostly refined palm olein used in cooking oil.
But its import volumes for palm oil are smaller compared to India, the world's top palm oil buyer, which takes up half a million tonnes a month.
ARECO is one of the major vegetable oil traders and distributors in Egypt along with IFFCO, Loders Croklaan -- a unit of Malaysia's IOI Corp and Safia International that belongs to Savola Group .
The firm buys vegetable oil cargoes, including soyoil and sunflower oil, from global suppliers like Archer Daniels Midlands .
Production of cottonseed, the major domestic oilseed crop crushed into cooking oil, has been on the decline, but a bigger soybean crop will compensate the declines.
Mamoun did not give a projection for harvests but said soyoil imports would slow a little.
"The government will tender for soyoil but it will be less than usual," he said. "Palm oil will fill most gaps."
U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed that, soyoil imports in the last marketing year to September 2010 fell 21 percent from a year ago.
Egypt imports soyoil and sunflower and sells the vegetable oils at subsidised prices. Ration card holders are allowed half a kilogram of edible oils per month, industry officials say. - Reuters
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