Palm oil price slips following Kyat revaluation

As Kyat regains in the local forex market, the prices of palm oil slid, according to Mandalay wholesale market.
On 28 September, the exchange rate on US dollar hit an all-time high of over K3,000 in the black market, whereas the rate fell to over K2,000 on 6 October, showing a significant decrease of K1,000 within days.
The Kyat weakening against US dollar impacted the edible palm oil market last week, coupled with the shipment problem amid the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore, the prices of imported edible palm oil soared tremendously to above K5,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kg), the edible oil traders stated.
At present, the palm oil was worth around K4,850 per viss, with a slight increase of K50 compared to the price registered last week.
Myanmar brought in US$744.2 million worth palm oil in the past ten months (Oct-August) of the financial year 2020-2021, according to Myanmar Customs Department.
The Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association is attempting to maintain the price stability, prevent market manipulation, import the palm oil from foreign countries sustainably for oil sufficiency, distribute the edible oil at fair price to the consumers and ensure that there will be no edible oil shortage in regions and states when there is a rise in imported oil price.
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 be oil sufficiency in domestic market, about 700,000 tonnes of cooking oil are yearly imported.—KK/GNLM