Thailand diverts oil meant for biofuel

In Thailand, the world's third-largest producer of palm oil, the Energy Ministry is to hold 5,000 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) for use of cooking oil, as the country's government works to address the shortage of domestic palm oil.

This CPO was originally intended for biofuel production, however will now be refined as cooking oil. A further 10,000 tonnes of CPO held by the private sector will also be converted into cooking oil for household use.

The move comes following the National Palm Oil Policy Committee meeting, which was held on 22 February and chaired by Thailand's deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban.

During the meeting it was also decided that the nation will import 30,000 tonnes of CPO during the next two weeks in order to help meet the domestic demand for cooking oil.

'The government will allocate a 200 million Baht (€4,735,980) subsidy to refine the 45,000 tonnes of CPO into cooking oil so that the price for per litre bottle can be capped at 47 Baht,' Thaugsuban says.

The deputy Prime Minister went on to explain that the 30,000 tonnes of imported oil could produce 22 million litres of cooking oil, thus 33 million litres of cooking oil could be made from 45,000 tonnes of CPO.

The people of Thailand have been limited to buying just one 1-litre bottles of cooking oil per supermarket trip since the shortage hit the nation at the beginning of 2011. Since then the price for a 1-litre bottle of household cooking oil has soared to 47 Baht, compared to 36 Baht prior to the shortage.

The lack of oil occurred following the November-December 2010 flooding, which led to suspected hoarding.