21/01/2015 (Thailand National News Bureau) – The Cabinet has given the green light to an import of 50,000 tons of palm oil to tackle the shortage problem while assuring farmers of the government’s effort to cushion the price of their produce.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Amnuay Patise, a decision has been made by the Cabinet to purchase a total of 50,000 tons of palm oil from overseas as proposed by the national oil palm policy committee. The import will be carried out by the Public Warehouse Organization under regular procedures, beginning this February.

Following protests by oil palm planters who feared that the import would push down the price of their palm produce, Mr Amnuay affirmed that the Cabinet made the decision while taking all potential impacts into account. In a bid to safeguard the farmers against a price decline, the Cabinet resolved to offer them a minimum price guarantee at 5 baht per kilogram.

The deputy minister said the imported lot will bring up the country’s palm oil stock to about 200,000 tons, which is deemed appropriate.