Palm oil wholesale reference price for Yangon Region dips

The wholesale reference rate of palm oil for the Yangon mar­ket slid again this week ending 27 March compared to that of the previous week, according to the Supervisory Committee on edible oil import and distri­bution.

The reference price stood at K4,635 per viss in the week from 13 to 19 March. For the week ending 27 March, the price was set slightly lower at K4,570 per viss, showing a small decrease of K65 per viss this week.

The Supervisory Commit­tee on edible oil import and dis­tribution under the Ministry of Commerce has been closely observing the FOB prices in Malaysia and Indonesia includ­ing transport costs, tariffs and banking services, and issuing the wholesale market reference rate for edible oil every week.

Regardless of the refer­ence price, the current market price is too high at over K6,000- 7,000 per viss.

If those edible oil retail­ers and wholesalers are found overcharging, storing inventory intentionally and attempting unscrupulous action to manip­ulate the market, they will face legal action under the Essential Supplies and Service Act, MoC released a statement.

The Ministry of Commerce is striving for consumers not to worry over the supply of edible oil. The ministry is also trying to secure edible oil sufficiency, supervise the market to offer reasonable prices to the con­sumers and maintain price stability.

At present, mobile market trucks operated by oil import­ing companies, in coordination with Myanmar Edible Oil Deal­ers’ Association, were back to business in some townships on 17 July in order to offer palm oil at a subsidized rate. They offer palm oil at a fairer price to the consumers directly depending on the reference price. Howev­er, there are limited sources of supply although they directly sell palm oil at a reference rate depending on the volume quota.

The domestic consumption of edible oil is estimated at 1 million tonnes per year. The local cooking oil production is just about 400,000 tonnes. To meet the oil sufficiency in the domestic market, about 700,000 tonnes of cooking oil are yearly imported through Malaysia and Indonesia. — NN/EM