Palm oil imports witnessed an increase of 35.95 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year as against the corresponding period of last year.

In terms of quantity, the palm oil imports witnessed increase of 6.16 percent by increasing from 1,039,292 metric tons last year to 1,103,360 metric tons during the current fiscal year.

On the other hand, the soyabean oil imports decreased by 0.62 percent during the period by going down from $35.201 million last year to $34,042 million this year, the data revealed.

In terms of quantity, the soyabean oil imports decreased from 36,613 metric tons to 26,414 metric tons, showing negative growth of 27.86 percent.

Meanwhile, the palm oil imports during December increased by 5.02 percent and 17.90 percent as compared to those in November 2011 and December 2010, respectively.

The palm oil imports during December 2011 were recorded at $222.957 million as compared to $212.305 million in November 2011 and $190.734 million in December 2010, the PBS data revealed.

However, soyabean imports during December 2011 decreased by 54.73 percent as compared to the same month of last year.

The soyabean imports during December 2011 stood at $3.156 million against $6.972 million during December 2010.

The soyabean imports during December 201, however, witnessed increase of 82.96 percent when compared to $1.725 million recorded during November 2011.