The wholesale reference rate of palm oil for the Yangon market increased a bit for the week ending 30 October, according to the Supervisory Committee on edible oil import and distribution.
The wholesale price was set lower at K4,275 per viss for a week from 16 to 22 October and this week’s rate was set higher to K4,395 per viss for a week ending 30 October, showing an increase of K120 per viss.
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 transport costs, tariffs and banking services to issue the wholesale market reference rate for edible oil weekly.
Nonetheless, the market price was higher than the reference price.
To tackle the overcharging, the Consumer Affairs Department under the Ministry of Commerce apprised the consumers of lodging complaints for overcharging through the call centre’s hotline in late August. The department urged consumers not to buy the palm oil at high price.
The Department is making concerted efforts to steer the high volatility in palm oil prices in the retail market and offer fairer prices to the consumers, in coordination with the Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association and oil importing companies.
The complaints for overcharging can be lodged over hotline 1535 of the call centre of the Consumers Affairs Department or sent to the Facebook page of the Department and the region and state departments concerned.
Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers Association formed a task force on edible oil price stability and started informing the lists of wholesale/retail shops of each company on 28 August, including the address of the shops in the respective townships and the number of available barrels.
The task force will govern the market to meet the satisfaction of the end-users in the supply chain and get easy access to the consumers.
It will also supervise the market to ensure the palm oil sales at wholesale prices are not higher than two per cent of the net profit margin and retail prices are not higher than 10 per cent margin.
The domestic consumption of palm oil is estimated at one million tonnes per year. The local palm oil production is just about 400,000 tonnes. To meet the domestic demands, about 700,000 tonnes of palm oil are yearly imported through Malaysia and Indonesia. — NN/EM
