Oil Riot In Tesco Lotus

[jaideeguy]

The brother in law was recently in the local hospital overnight and overheard the nurses talking about some of the patients that were there because they were injured in a fight to buy the last stock of cooking oil at tesco lotus, This is in a small normally peaceful village outside of Chiang Mai.

Have seen oil shortages all over town and most stores don't even have soy oil.

Is this happening all over the country??

[Heng]

Yes.

Stocked up last month at Makro because a good number of folks knew it was coming.

It's temporary...

[Bluetongue]

Yes the shelves have been empty in Chantaburi for at least 3 weeks, I've noticed the market and small stores I go to are running out too. My wife says that its a prelude to a price increase, as with coconut milk recently, and possibly sugar (although I didn't follow the price movements when it came back on the shelves). In Aus the supermarkets and suppliers dont give a you know what, they just whack the price up, here maybe they create a shortage first

[gotlost]

Was in Carrefour yesterday, shelves empty.

[Spee]

"Is this happening all over the country??"

Not just Thailand. All over the world. And what is available is getting more expensive.

Why? There is a simple answer. In the US, by government enforcement, 40% of the country's food harvests are being used to produce 10% of the country's fuel. What's wrong with that picture? It's the crony capitalism of the ethanol racket that serves the few at the expense of the many.

Combine that with higher fuel prices because the US government is not allowing companies to harvest the country's natural fuel resources, and you the makings of a major crisis, not just in the US but globally.

Countries with drought and lack of agriculture will be hit hardest. Large agrarian countries like Thailand are already being hurt because of high fuel prices. These shortages at the grocer are only symptoms of a much larger problem.

[QED]

"Is this happening all over the country??"

Not just Thailand. All over the world. And what is available is getting more expensive.

Why? There is a simple answer. In the US, by government enforcement, 40% of the country's food harvests are being used to produce 10% of the country's fuel. What's wrong with that picture? It's the crony capitalism of the ethanol racket that serves the few at the expense of the many.

Combine that with higher fuel prices because the US government is not allowing companies to harvest the country's natural fuel resources, and you the makings of a major crisis, not just in the US but globally.

Countries with drought and lack of agriculture will be hit hardest. Large agrarian countries like Thailand are already being hurt because of high fuel prices. These shortages at the grocer are only symptoms of a much larger problem.

Incorrect.

Thailand palm crops (mainly in the south) were hit badly by the flooding last year. Prices then went to a level where producers would make a loss buying local palm fruit, as the government caps the retail price of palm oil. Refiners then basically stopped producing as they refused to run at a loss, and lobbied the government to allow imports from Malaysia and Singapore. They have now done that but this is also a higher cost, so the government have agreed to raise the retail price cap from 38 baht to 47 baht per liter.

In the meantime everyone has reverted to the second cheapest oil, soy bean, and that has been unable to keep up with demand as roughly 70% of the previous market was in palm oil, hence there is no oil on the shelves.

There will be a flood of palm oil hitting the market next week, but as it will now be more expensive than soy bean oil (which has a minority market share), then you will never get soy bean oil again in the supermarket as the locals will snap up all the supplies. This then leaves a choice of palm oil (which I understand is pretty bad for you), or the more expensive sunflower/rice bran oils if you are lucky enough to live in a big enough town.

In the supermarkets where I am they have had a 1 bottle per customer ration for several weeks now, but they have never ran out of sunflower oil as it is a bit too expensive for the locals.

[Bluetongue]

Thanks for that QED, although I paid 115 baht for a 2 litre bottle of soya bean oil yesterday and I've been paying 55-57 baht for the litre bottle so not sure where/when the 47 baht cap on palm oil kicks in if it will be more expensive. We prefer the soya bean oil, palm oil is I'm pretty sure the one that dieticians and cardiologists dont recommend.

[Spee]

In the meantime everyone has reverted to the second cheapest oil, soy bean, and that has been unable to keep up with demand as roughly 70% of the previous market was in palm oil, hence there is no oil on the shelves.

Your correction is enlightening, but I would add .... who produces 40% of the world's soybeans .... the US, and soybean production has been dropping in favor of corn for ethanol. There is a relationship to what I said earlier, maybe not as large in Thailand as I had first thought, but still there.

[Warhammer820]

not sure if anyone said this, because i just glanced over the posts, but my city in the US has a surplus of cooking oil

[theoldgit]

I was in my local Tops yesterday, no soya bean all at all and they had a few bottles of palm oil at the regulated price of 47 Baht, though you could only buy one bottle and only then if had a Tops card.

I read somewhere that it's only supermarkets that regulate the price, mom and pop stores were buying up all the stocks and then selling at inflated prices.

[theoldgit]

I was in my local Tops yesterday, no soya bean all at all and they had a few bottles of palm oil at the regulated price of 47 Baht, though you could only buy one bottle and only then if had a Tops card.

I read somewhere that it's only supermarkets that regulate the price, mom and pop stores were buying up all the stocks and then selling at inflated prices.