BANGKOK, 02 September 2015, – The government has decided to adjust assistance measures for palm oil producers. The new policy reduces the waiting time before the Public Warehouse Organization (PWO) and refineries are to purchase palm oil, from within 45 days to 10 days.
The new policy, which will take effect on Wednesday, was given a nod during a meeting on Tuesday of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Commerce, and representatives of palm oil producers and refineries.
The National Oil Palm Policy Committee previously assigned the PWO to buy crude palm oil at 26.20 baht a kilogram and participating refineries to buy raw palm oil with 17 percent oil content at 4.20 baht per kilogram. The policy specified that both the PWO and the refineries must purchase the products within 45 days.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, General Chatchai Sarikalya, the reduction of purchasing period from 45 days to 10 days would help distributing palm oil to the market faster.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture will keep a profile of new oil palm growers in order to formulate appropriate assistance measures in the future. The Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture will also share a database on the present amount of palm oil circulating in the market and the palm oil reserves in the PWO.
