Consumers have now access to reference prices of palm oil

Some edible oil shops at Bayintnaung, and Nyaungpinlay wholesale markets in Yangon and wholesale markets in other regions are crowded with buyers as they started offering palm oil at reference prices from the last week of August 2023, the sellers involved at Bayintnaung and Nyaungpinlay markets said.
The oil importing companies distributed over three million visses of palm oil to the domestic markets at the wholesale reference price of K4,155 per viss on 28-30 August.
Even one leading palm oil importing company sold over 1.7 million visses of palm oil those days.
The consumers get access to a reference price of K4,400 per viss at certain shops in the wholesale market, and photos are posted daily on social media.
An individual can buy up to 10 visses of palm oil if they can present a copy of the national scrutiny card and provide a contact number.
Approximately 8,000 tonnes of palm oil were imported in the country on 30 August and around 9,000 tonnes of oil were scheduled to arrive in the Port, citing the edible oil market reports. A tonne of palm oil is equivalent to around 600 visses.
The authorities have already notified the public of lodging complaints for overcharging. The wholesalers are entitled to make a two-per-cent profit margin.
For the week ending 3 September, the CIF prices stood at US$934 per tonne of palm oil. The original price of palm oil was K4,076 per viss when it was calculated at an exchange rate of K2,513. The wholesale reference price is set at K4,155 this week.
“We could buy two 10-viss containers of palm oil at wholesale reference price at Nyaungpinlay market,” a trader who resells the palm oil in regions outside Yangon said.
The Union minister for Commerce attended the coordination meeting on the stability of the palm oil price held on the morning of 30 August and he gave a remark that it is necessary to strive to cut the palm oil price remarkably these days.
With oil shops selling palm oil at a fairer price, the market does not witness the price hike that occurred in mid-August. Consumers can enjoy the benefits of the price decline at present. — TWA/EM