REUTERS
Palm oil shipments to Ukraine in September-October 2018 decreased by 7%, to 45,600 tonnes against 49,100 tonnes y-o-y.
Ukraine in October 2018 boosted palm oil imports almost by 1.5 times year-over year (y-o-y), to 22,500 tonnes.
"In October 2018, Ukraine imported 22,500 tonnes of palm oil, which was almost 2.6% down from last month, but 47% more than in October last year," the UkrAgroConsult agency's press service said in a statement on December 20.
Read alsoUkraine's parliament outlaws use of palm oil for food production
Experts say that in the last four months, imports of palm oil were above the average figure reported for the previous three seasons, that is about 18 million tonnes per month.
However, palm oil shipments to Ukraine in September-October 2018 decreased by 7%, to 45,600 tonnes against 49,100 tonnes y-o-y, the period which saw a seven-year maximum.
Ukraine's key suppliers of palm oil over the period under review were Malaysia, which accounts for 65% of Ukraine's oil purchases, and Indonesia (32%).
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine in the 2017-2018 marketing year (MY, September 2017-June 2018) boosted palm oil imports by 20% from MY 2016-2017, to 193,300 tonnes, which was a record high in the past five years.
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, earlier passed a draft law prohibiting the use of palm oil in food production, milk and dairy products, as well as introduced administrative responsibility for violation of the rule.