Palm oil reference price increases upon Kyat depreciation

The wholesale reference price of palm oil for a week (29 August to 4 September) is set at K4,910 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes) calculated on the exchange rate of K2,550 against a US dollar, as per the official statement.
For the week ending on 7 August, the wholesale reference price of palm oil in Yangon was K3,525 per viss, calculated on the exchange rate of K1,853.
Until now, the Central Bank of Myanmar set the reference exchange rate against a US dollar at K2,100, raised from K1,850 recorded in early August. If the price is fixed according to the CBM’s rate, palm oil reference price is estimated at only K3,700 per viss. When it is calculated with K2,550, the palm oil reference price rises to approximately K4,500 per viss.
This week, palm oil is priced at US$1,080 per tonne (1000 kilogrammes) in international markets.
“The palm oil reference price is up by K800 per viss upon the exchange rate hike,” Ko Lin Htut told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
If Yangon’s wholesale reference price had been calculated on the exchange rate of K2,100, it would have been K4,800 per viss. At present, the reference price (K4,910 per viss) for this week was calculated on the exchange rate of K2,550, he added.
The palm oil was sold at K8,800 per viss in the wholesale markets in Yangon last week. The prices stood at K9,000 per viss on 29 August, K9,200 on 30 August, and K9,400-9,500 on 31 August respectively, the GNLM quoted Ko Aung Ko, an edible oil seller at the Nyaungpinlay market, as saying.
The palm oil wholesale prices in regions and states reached K9,500 per viss on 30 August and K9,800 per viss on 31 August.
Amid the volatile foreign exchange rate, the millers of palm oil with jerry can suspend the sales in the Ponyin area. So, I have to order it from Myingyan town, Daw Kyin said.
The prices of sesame in Myingyan town are K70,000-80,000 per basket. As a result of this, the sesame oil price has also risen.
On 31 August, edible oil wholesale prices were K13,500-14,500 per viss for peanut, K10,000-11,000 for sesame and K12,000-13,000 for sunflower, Ko Htay Aung, a sesame oil miller, told the GNLM. — TWA/GNLM