KARACHI, Oct 22: Pakistan’s palm oil market remained mixed during the last week and importers hesitated to book new orders preferring to wait for world prices to settle down, dealers said on Wednesday.

They said traders were making routine imports of edible oils and the market was likely to follow a mixed trend in near-term as importers anticipate volatile international market in the weeks ahead.

“The importers are hesitant to place fresh orders due to the constant fluctuations in world prices,” Pervez Aminuddin, a palm oil importer in Karachi, told Reuters.

“They want international prices to settle to a firm level.” Malaysian crude palm oil futures rebounded on Wednesday as buyers returned after a setback the previous day on profit taking.

The benchmark third-month futures contract on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange, January, closed up 37 ringgit at 1,692 ringgit ($445.26) a ton.

Pakistani traders said imports would remain slow as most players were overbought.

However, a slowdown will not affect stocks in the local market, which has sufficient supplies for the annual peak season of Ramazan, due to start in October.

Local dealers have sufficient stocks to meet demand up to November and buying activity will pick up only when the international market stabilises, another dealer said.—Reuters