The Myanmar Oil Traders and Oil Entrepreneurs Association announced today that it will sell palm oil at a cheaper price.
The association will sell only the equivalent of 3,700 kyats per pound at the wholesale price, as the central bank has sold foreign currency directly to companies importing edible oil to keep the price of cooking oil from skyrocketing due to the depreciation of the Myanmar currency and the high exchange rate.
The palm oil will be sold by the association at retail and wholesale. Wholesalers are required to resell to the consumer for no more than 2% profit.
The price of edible oil has skyrocketed due to the recent appreciation of the Myanmar kyat and rising exchange rates, including rising import costs.
The wholesale price of palm oil in January before the military coup in Burma was around 2,300 kyats per pound. Since then, with the sharp rise in foreign exchange rates, the current wholesale price of palm oil has reached a record high of over 4,000 kyats per pound. Eight months after the military coup, the percentage rose to 73.9 percent.
Myanmar Oil Traders and Oil Entrepreneurs Association “We are working to ensure that prices are stable and that consumers can buy at a fair price,” he said.
Domestic oil consumption is over 10 lakh tons per year. With a production capacity of only 400,000 tonnes, about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes are imported annually for domestic demand.
