Palm oil price rise requests mount as state checks stock costs
Officials are scrutinising crude palm oil inventory data after six manufacturers sought approval to increase bottled palm oil prices
Department of Internal Trade is reviewing requests from six palm oil producers seeking to raise bottled palm oil prices, as officials move to examine the cost structure of both old and new crude palm oil stocks before making a final decision.
Wittayakorn Maneenetr, director-general of the Department of Internal Trade, said current bottled palm oil pricing is based on the market mechanism tied to crude palm oil (CPO) prices from February 2026, when much of the supply still came from older stock, with newer CPO gradually blended in.
He said six producers had recently submitted requests to adjust bottled palm oil prices, which fall into two categories.
- The first involves requests to raise prices within the existing ceiling. He said that under earlier market conditions, bottled palm oil had continued to sell below the official price cap because of slowing consumption and intense competition. In this category, one producer has already been allowed to increase its price, but only within the previously approved ceiling.
- The second category involves requests to raise prices above the existing ceiling. Those requests have not yet been approved.
Wittayakorn said each brand has a different retail price ceiling, depending on its cost structure, and the department is currently seeking additional details on both old and new CPO stocks before reaching a conclusion.
He said the review process would take around 15 days. At this stage, the department would first try negotiation. For example, if the retail ceiling is 48 baht a bottle but the product had previously been sold at only 45 baht, officials may first negotiate an increase to 46 or 47 baht rather than immediately allowing a jump to the ceiling.
A Commerce Ministry source said manufacturers had also submitted requests to the Department of Internal Trade to raise prices on three types of products because of higher costs: bottled palm oil, shampoo and soap. All are still under review, and no approval has yet been granted for higher prices.
Most recently, the department approved one request involving 1-litre bottled palm oil from a single producer seeking to raise its price within the existing ceiling, because the product had still been selling below the cap. Even so, the retail price must not exceed 50 baht per bottle.
