Bangkok (ANTARA News) - Thailand plans to import 60,000 tons of palm oil this month, either from Malaysia or Indonesia, to ease a domestic shortage of the commodity, which is used both for cooking oil and as bio-fuel, news reports said Saturday.<\/p>\n
Yangyong Phuangrach, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the imports were necessary as a short-term measure to ease a domestic shortage, The Nation newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
Thailand, a significant palm-oil producer, tries to keep a stockpile of 150,000 tons of palm oil to secure domestic supplies and keep prices down, but the stockpile has fallen to 98,000 tons.<\/p>\n
The country uses about 70,000 tons of palm oil a month for cooking oil and another 30,000 tons for bio-diesel fuel.<\/p>\n
It is not clear whether the shortfall has been caused by hoarding among suppliers, in an effort to boost local cooking-oil prices.<\/p>\n
\"Following the imports, the ministry will not allow any palm-oil manufacturers to increase prices further,\" said Yangyong.<\/p>\n
Under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), palm-oil imports are still subject to a 20-per-cent import tax, while most other commodities face tariffs of zero to 5 per cent.<\/p>\n
The Association of South-East Asian Nations includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, DPA reported.(*)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thai-government-to-import-palm-oil-1200279555", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }