Private sector promises to buy palm nuts at reasonable prices to help growers



BANGKOK: -- The private sector has pledged to purchase palm oil nuts from farmers at reasonable prices to support the government's attempt to solve surplus and falling price.

This was revealed by Commerce Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikalya after a meeting with the palm oil association and concerned parties to find way to push up the palm oil price.

Gen Chatchai revealed that the government and the private sector have come up with measures to solve the surplus and low price of palm oil to assist local growers with the private sector promising to buy palm nuts at reasonable price to shore up prices.

He said the private sector has agreed to purchase palm nuts from growers at the highest possible price.

The government has also asked traders to cut price of fertilizer to help palm oil growers reduce their cost and the traders have agreed to cut the fertilizer price by 5-10 percent for six months, starting from April 16, he said.

Gen Chatchai said the Energy Ministry has also agreed to increase the mixture percentage ratio of palm-oil-based biodiesel in its blending policy from 3.5 percent to 7 percent to help reduce surplus of the palm oil.

The adjustment will come into effect from April 16, he said.

Commerce officials will also ask palm oil growers not to harvest palm nuts with low oil content.

Chairman of the Palm Oil Crushing Mill Association Mr Krisada Chavananad said the private sector is willing to cooperate with the government in purchasing palm nuts from small growers at the highest possible price, which is at 4.5 baht per kilogramme for palm nuts with 17 percent oil content.

The price, however, is subject to change in according to the global prices, he said.

The private sector will focus on purchasing palm nuts from growers who own less than 50 rai of crop field.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/private-sector-promises-to-buy-palm-nuts-at-reasonable-prices-to-help-growers


-- Thai PBS 2015-04-10

Says who? A general?

A reasonable rate would be the market rate?

Yes?

"Gen Chatchai said the Energy Ministry has also agreed to increase the mixture percentage ratio of palm-oil-based biodiesel in its blending policy from 3.5 percent to 7 percent to help reduce surplus of the palm oil."

So.....erm....ok.....what?

Will that effect the bio diesel performance? (genuine question)

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Bluespunk

I seem to recall a certain previous government putting a similar scheme in place with respect to rice? Can anyone recall how that worked out?

I seem to recall a certain previous government putting a similar scheme in place with respect to rice? Can anyone recall how that worked out?

Not even close to being the same thing.

They have in reality given no price guarantees or even made any solid commitments.

They certainly haven't said they will buy goods at twice the market rate and proposed some BS scheme that will try to control the world price of the commodity in question.

Or did I miss that part of the story?

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Bluespunk

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I seem to recall a certain previous government putting a similar scheme in place with respect to rice? Can anyone recall how that worked out?

Not even close to being the same thing.

They have in reality given no price guarantees or even made any solid commitments.

They certainly haven't said they will buy goods at twice the market rate and proposed some BS scheme that will try to control the world price of the commodity in question.

Or did I miss that part of the story?

No, this is not like the Yingluck's rice pledge or Prayut's rubber pledge programs.

The overall idea seems to be that, in order to provide the palm oil farmers with a higher profit margin within the bounds of the highest world market price, the private sector and traders will have to lower their profit margins. If the private sector and/or traders refuse, Thailand already has price control laws to force reduced profit margins; so Article 44 needn't apply.

But if the world market price drops further, private sector and trader profits might disappear. Then the private sector and traders will have no incentive for further purchases, surpluses will build, and the price will drop further. With no income the palm oil farmers will be driven from agriculture.

This palm oil strategy is essentially Russian roulette.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I seem to recall a certain previous government putting a similar scheme in place with respect to rice? Can anyone recall how that worked out?

Not even close to being the same thing.

They have in reality given no price guarantees or even made any solid commitments.

They certainly haven't said they will buy goods at twice the market rate and proposed some BS scheme that will try to control the world price of the commodity in question.

Or did I miss that part of the story?

No, this is not like the Yingluck's rice pledge or Prayut's rubber pledge programs.

The overall idea seems to be that, in order to provide the palm oil farmers with a higher profit margin within the bounds of the highest world market price, the private sector and traders will have to lower their profit margins. If the private sector and/or traders refuse, Thailand already has price control laws to force reduced profit margins; so Article 44 needn't apply.

But if the world market price drops further, private sector and trader profits might disappear. Then the private sector and traders will have no incentive for further purchases, surpluses will build, and the price will drop further. With no income the palm oil farmers will be driven from agriculture.

This palm oil strategy is essentially Russian roulette.

What rubber pledge program me?

Who's nuts being palmed and where? I'm confused.

Who's nuts being palmed and where? I'm confused.

Don't know, but Costas was complaining about his mother in law taking away and selling his mangos.

Maybe he knows.

Thanks Bluespunk and Strikcir for pointing out that the palm nut scheme In No Way restless the rice scheme. But please admit that in essence and on a much lesser scale, it does have a similar smell to it. And in Thailand, if not anywhere else on our globe - if it looks like some sort of scam and smells like some of scam, then there is rarely the need to take the final test of tasting it.

My apologies to Srikcir; I haven't read many, if any, of your posts on TV. , but your post on this thread seems to be well enough researched not to counted as Pure BS. May I say it's perhaps a bit naive though (knowing this country) Bluespunk's posts on the other hand, you can't quite help but read as he's generally quite prolific and tends to have a view on most things - at least political. I'll admit that I don't share many of his views although I believe if looked into you'll see a Like or two from me on some of his posts. So Bluespunk (where did you get that name - mines never been other a creamy sticky white)? I now again to your quite obvious research into (what I think could easily become) the palm nut scandal. Some one if not already two or three or a dozen, will have already started, if not already worked out, ways of skimming large quantities Baht and Johnny Foreigners' dollar into a bank account or three. And the Commernce Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikalya must be the most naive guy in recent history to enter politics [...another one with only yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir, attitude that can only come from the military (of any country I hasten to add)]

Does he really belief that the middlemen will take even the smallest hit, if prices fall further. Middlemen are known to be biggest crooks, liars, thieves and gangsters (after politicians of course) in the world and if they are now to be placed in the that most inevitable and

ineludible position of the middlan between the farmer , the mill operator/owner, the buyer and the goverent [there'll be a shipper or two in there as well], then most IMHO, if not all of any government money pledged to scheme will never see the farmers purse.

Okay so I'm not saying that it will be another country rocking scandal like the Rice scheme of the Shins, who despite their now to be spat- upon name, were clever enough to give some - not a lot - to the farmers upfront (why do they still have the huge support in Isaan and the N & NE - because although Thaksin only gave them I Believe a tenth of what was promised ( he pocketed the other 9/10s) the farmers who confessed know this still said that he least he gave them something, which no other government had ever done.

All I'm saying these subsidiary scheme have been proven around the around, even if very very carefully scrutinised/audited at every step of way have proven to provide nest eggs, mainly if not exclusively for the scum middlemen, not to help the farmer at all, and/or either produced a mountain worldwide of whatever the stuff is [wine, butter, milk mountains in the EU, but Ruusia had wheat mountains not too long ago - the states had maize and corn mountains - needs a bit more research but I'm sure Australia has had mountains of something recently (possibly immigrants lol) or puts the guy out of business altogether.

PS the Irish and the Thais have something In common after all - the Irish had potato mountains; the Thais now have rice mountains. Although quite a few generations apart what the common denominator ?- both mountains were rotten and nobody - not even the aid agencies - want it.

In conclusion, this scheme, nutty as it obviously is (please don't excuse the pun - what's the English language without all its puns, metaphors, double entendres, innuendo - ah anyone remember Rainbow, a U.K. Children's TV program where Zippy an George threw them (innuendos) around like confetti at a wedding). Sorry, I am tending to digress quite a lot somewhat this morning for some reason. Blame on it the high levels of snow into condo last night.

Anyway back to the topic of Palm Nut Oil - may I just ask someone, with a bit more enthusiasm for the subject than me, keep an proper eye on this one And please keep us all informed.

PS - could not be bothered using google on this bit either, but isn't palm nut oil, particularly low oil content nut now been deemed by one of the fancy-named international environmental agencies as bad, for just about everything to everyone.

PPS - think I will google this subject a bit more after my breakfast. After writing all the above, I have, genuinely, become very interested in all the wee bits of info on the side, and generally not talked about

Sorry for the numerous typos and wee bits of bad grammar here and there in the above and rather lengthy post of mine

To Bluespunk: my most noticeable error to you was seeming nowing instead of bowing to you. And in case you may be a bit paranoid ( ah no - that's probably me this morning and to be truthful it can be quite good fun if you can psychologically handle it] there was absolutely no sarcasm in the comment at all. You are quite obviously a well-read guy - a wee bit right wing in some of your post for my liking - not hat I have come anywhere near reading your nigh-0n 11,000. Whoa man - that's apt time on your keyboard.

Seeing as I have obviously entered the mellow stage of my come down, may I just say, that apart from most of your posts being slightly right of Attila the Hun, or even worse Margaret Thatcher, I do like your avatar and the cool (blues) & (punk) name. As opposed to my earlier blunder thinking "why make a name from us coloured spunk"

Edited April 12, 201511 yr by Commander Tamson