Soybean- oil price hike plan shelved

Commerce Minister Chaiya Sasomsap said yesterday that after lobbying a long time for a price increase, soybean-oil producers were now having second thoughts.

The producers had wanted to lift the price of bottled oil from Bt49.50 to Bt54 a litre after bearing rising costs of raw materials. However, due to the cost of palm oil dropping to only Bt39-Bt40 per litre bottle, consumers have turned to preparing meals with palm oil instead of soybean oil.

The cost of oil palm has dropped from Bt6-Bt7 a kilogram to below Bt4.

Sethasan Sethakarun, president of the Soybean Oil and Ricebran Processors Association, said producers had to slow down their price-hike request after the market faced high competitiveness.

"We must closely monitor palm-oil price moves to ask for a price increase again due to the bearish market, as consumers have changed their shopping behaviour to lower-priced goods," he said.

Meanwhile, the Farmers Assistance Committee will today call for a meeting to address the fall in the maize price and seek measures to help farmers.

The committee is expected to set an intervention price not lower than the current market price to help growers.

The price of maize has dropped gradually in line with the declining oil price, from Bt9.85 a kilo early this year to Bt7.85 this month, while maize with a high moisture content has sunk to Bt5.30 a kilo.