PM: Palm Oil Crisis Near an End; No Sugar Shortage

The prime minister says he is happy to see that the palm oil shortage is abating, while reaffirming that there is no sugar shortage.

Meanwhile, retailers are rushing to make pink-capped palm oil available at stores in order to ease consumers' worries.

During his weekly television address Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he believes the palm oil crisis should be over by the end of this month, during which time the new harvest of palm nuts is expected to be available for production.

He added that bottled palm oil with pink caps is being distributed to participating stores and is for sale at the capped price of 47 baht.

Abhisit also said that there are no purchase limits.

However, the premier has asked the public not to hoard or buy palm oil for resale.

Abhisit also dismissed the possibility of a sugar shortage in the face of widespread concern, and said that he has instructed relevant agencies to oversee production at sugar factories and to prevent smuggling.

Meanwhile, Darm Sukhontasap, senior vice president of Ek-Chai Distribution System, the operator of hypermarket chain Tesco Lotus, took the media to observe the storage of pink-capped palm oil at its warehouse in Wang Noi, Ayutthaya province.

About 380,000 bottles of palm oil were distributed to other Tesco Lotus branches.

Darm observed that the situation is improving and reiterated that his company is not hoarding palm oil.

There were reports last week that some Tesco Lotus stores had not shelved palm oil bottles, which was later clarified by the company.

From February 27 to March 3, Tesco Lotus was allocated 650,000 bottles of pink-capped palm oil, all of which were sold in less than two days.

The executive noted that there have been no shortages for other items such as sugar.

However, he did admit that sugar supplies have declined significantly, which could prompt the company to impose purchase limits.

-- Tan Network 2011-03-07

"However, the premier has asked the public not to hoard or buy palm oil for resale"

Does this mean that anyine who wants to cook with palm oil can only do so thriough buying pink capped bottles at the government selected outlets ?

In hundreds upon hundreds of moo bahn acorss Thailand, there are seniors and very poor folks who can only buy what is offered by their local 'mom and pop' shops. They can only go to buy where their feet will carry them. If these shops are forbidden to buy for resale, a large portion of the population will still not have access to any palm oil.

A well thought out policy for the elite of Bangkok. but not for all of Thailand !

Edited March 7, 201115 yr by tigermonkey

woo HOO --- time to go to the Polls