Business | Markets
Re-exports spur UAE's edible oil imports in 2006
The UAE imported 458,730 tonnes of edible oils last year, almost four per cent more than it bought in 2005, according to industry estimates.
- By Shakir Husain, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 January 22, 2007
- Image Credit:
Dubai: The UAE imported 458,730 tonnes of edible oils last year, almost four per cent more than it bought in 2005, according to industry estimates.
Although its population is just one-sixth of Saudi Arabia, the UAE buys as much vegetable oil as the GCC's largest country because much of what it imports is re-exported.
About three-quarters of UAE imports, or 337,785 tonnes, were exported or re-exported to neighbouring regions last year, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) shows.
"UAE palm oil imports were 330,733 tonnes, constituting about 72 per cent of the total imported vegetable oils," MPOC regional director Ahmad Zafri Ahmad Zawawi told Gulf News.
MPOC is a semi-government agency that operates under the Malaysian Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities.
Malaysian palm oil exports to the UAE last year were 271,142 tonnes, and Indonesia's were estimated at 43,635 tonnes.
Imports of palm oil rose by about 1.7 per cent, with Malaysian exporters enjoying an 82 per cent share of the market.
"The UAE is our biggest market in the GCC as our producers use it as a hub to target neighbouring markets," Ahmad Zafri said.
The UAE's domestic consumption of palm oil in the food and non-food segments was 71,435 tonnes.
MPOC expects edible oil imports in the UAE to grow with the expansion of food market and industries. "Refiners are expanding capacity to export more refined products. The use of plant-based oils in making soaps and cosmetics is also increasing," Ahmad Zafri said.
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