SINGAPORE, March 4: Pakistan’s diesel imports will rise by 24 per cent in the second quarter from the first, due to the annual planting season and demand from military forces in Afghanistan, Pakistani oil industry officials said on Monday.

Imports of one per cent sulphur gas oil, burned by many military and farming vehicles, will rise to 1.39 million tons in the second quarter of 2002 from about 1.06 million tons in the first quarter, according to the projections of top importers.

“It’s a seasonal rise in demand as the farmers get back to planting crops, but this time there are more people to feed with all the military on the border with Afghanistan. Demand there is significant,” said one industry source.—Reuters