Thailand: State to probe oil palm price dip in South

Published May 25, 2024

Tridge summary

Thailand's Commerce Ministry has sent the Internal Trade Department to investigate the decrease in oil palm prices, which has been blamed on oversupply and low quality due to extreme heat. The department has advised growers to delay harvesting until fully ripened fruits are available to ensure higher prices. Buyers and production plants have been instructed to continue purchasing normally and not to manipulate palm nuts. The department will also inspect for fraudulent activities and the accurate weighing of palm nuts. The production estimate for fresh palm nuts this year is 18.1 million tonnes, a decrease from 18.3 million the previous year.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Commerce Ministry has ordered the Internal Trade Department to visit provinces with palm plantations as oil palm prices fell to find the cause and suggest preventive measures. Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told Wattanasak Sur-iam, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, to visit the southern provinces of Phangnga, Krabi and Surat Thani to evaluate the cause of the decline in oil palm prices following complaints by growers of the reduced purchase prices. Mr Wattanasak said the local price of domestic fresh palm nuts plunged from 4.98 baht per kilogramme to 4.60 baht last week because of oversupply from April to May. In addition to a glut, the nuts are low quality because of the extremely hot weather, meaning they did not naturally ripen, which decreases the percentage of palm oil, resulting in a lower purchase price, he said. Mr Wattanasak said the prices of local fresh palm nuts are expected to recover after farmers were asked to delay their harvest and cut ...

Source: Bangkokpost