Thai government sets new raw palm prices

BANGKOK, May 2 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Commerce, has announced that it will buy raw palms at the price of 4 baht per kilogramme, starting from May 1-July 31, 2015. Boonyarit Kalayanamit, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Internal Trade, told journalists that his department's central committee on products and services has set the prices for raw palm bunches and raw palm nuts during the three-month period. Boonyarit said the committee regulated that all palm oil extraction factories nationwide are to buy the raw palm bunches and nuts at the same price. According to the senior official, the new pricing has been set that a raw palm nut with its oil ratio of 17 per cent is to be bought at 4 baht per kilogramme, whereas a raw palm nut with an oil ratio higher than 17 per cent is to be bought 0.30 baht higher for each per cent of every kilogramme and a raw palm nut with an oil ratio lower than 17 per cent is to be bought 0.25 baht lower for each per cent of every kilogramme. Besides, the committee asked for cooperation from palm oil extraction factories to buy raw palm nuts with at least 15 per cent of oil ratio, while buyers of crude palm oil are asked to purchase the product at the price of no less than 25 baht per kilogramme before delivering the product into Bangkok and peripheral provinces. (TNA)