Palm oil price peaked at K9,000 per viss despite wholesale reference rate of K3,525

The price of palm oil hit a high of K9,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes) when the wholesale reference rate of palm oil in Yangon market is set at K3,525 per viss, according to the oil market.
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 transportation cost, tariff and banking service, and issuing the wholesale market reference rate for edible oil on a weekly basis.
The reference rate of palm oil in Yangon market for a week from 8 to 14 August is set at K3,525 per viss. However, the market price is higher than the reference rate.
In spite of the reference rate, the traders are found to raise the price up to K9,000 per viss in the markets.
To tackle this, mobile market trucks operated by oil importing companies, in coordination with Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association, were back to business in some townships starting from 17 July in order to offer the palm oil at the subsidized rate of K3,700 per viss to the consumers. However, there are limited sources of supply although they directly sell the palm oil at reference rate depending on the volume quota.
The Ministry of Commerce is striving for the 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 the reasonable price to the consumers, maintain the price stability and prevent market manipulation.—NN/GNLM