Palm oil in Arakan State selling at more than double junta’s reference price

28 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
28 July 2022, Sittwe 

Palm oil prices have risen to more than twice the reference price set by the supervisory committee for import and distribution of edible oil under the junta’s Commerce Ministry, according to palm oil producers. 

The supervisory committee issued an instruction that palm oil must be wholesaled at K3,665 per viss this week, but the palm oil price in Arakan State stands at more than K8,500 per viss, according to business operators. 

Palm oil business operators from Arakan State have to buy the palm oil they need via Yangon, where it is being purchased for about K8,400 per viss, according to industry traders, who say sometimes they are unable to buy the amount they want due to a shortage of supply. 

“The supervisory committee for import and distribution of edible oil sets the price of edible oil, but they can’t do anything effectively. We have to buy palm oil according to the price in Yangon,” said U Hla Maung Thein, a trader in Sittwe. 

Action will be taken against speculators under the Important Goods and Services Act, which lists edible oil as an important commodity for Myanmar, said U Myint Cho, chairman of the supervisory committee for import and distribution of edible oil. 

“If anyone does not sell edible oil at the specified price, people can contact us and complain,” he told DMG. 

An oil trader who did not wish to be named said that although they complained, it was of no use to them and they did not think that the relevant department would be able to handle the issue effectively. 

“If we file a complaint with the relevant department because palm oil distributors are not selling at the set price, where can we buy the additional oil we need?” he said. 

The budgets of low-income families are greatly strained by the increase in the price of cooking oil, said Daw Hla Win Nu, a resident of Sittwe. 

“Normally, my family’s daily expenses are around K5,000. Now I have to spend around K10,000 in daily expenses because the commodity prices are going up. A bottle of cooking oil was only K1,000 in the past, but now the price has risen to K2,500,” she explained.

Since the regime is selling palm oil at lower prices in some Myanmar townships, efforts are being made to do so in Arakan State as well, said U Tin Aung Oo, chairman of the Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

“Currently, we have sent a letter to the relevant organisations in order to sell palm oil at a low price in Arakan State,” he said. 

Oil prices on the domestic market rose sharply after Indonesia — which accounted for 96 percent of Myanmar’s palm oil imports — temporarily suspended palm oil exports in April. Indonesia lifted its ban on palm oil exports on May 30, but domestic prices have remained elevated in Myanmar.