29/03/2012 (Bangkok Post) - PTT Plc is ready to import 40,000 tonnes of cheaper palm oil for cooking from Indonesia to help ease the problem of high prices for local palm oil, Energy Minister Arak Chonlathanont said on Wednesday.

Mr Arak said his ministry was waiting for confirmation from the Commerce Ministry that it still wants PTT to import palm oil.

PTT planned to import refined bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil from Indonesia. It would be shipped to Thailand in seven days, he added.

The energy minister said PTT would pay no more than 30 baht a kilogramme. When the raw palm oil was processed and sold as cooking oil its price would not exceed 42 baht a bottle.

Questioned why PTT was selected to be the importer in stead of other related state agencies, Mr Arak said a private firm has more flexibility and can import the product faster.