Taskforce: Ceiling Price Of Bottled Palm Cooking Oil To Be Adjusted On Monthly Basis

Alex Cheong Pui Yin

2nd August 2022 - 3 min read

The Jihad Tangani Inflasi taskforce has announced that it will adopt a monthly pricing mechanism for bottled palm cooking oil, with the maximum price to be adjusted on a monthly basis. For August, the price will be set at RM34.70 per bottle for five kilogramme bottles – effective from 8 August 2022.

According to the chairman of the special taskforce, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, the ceiling price of palm cooking oil will be determined each month based on the crude palm oil (CPO) price of the previous month. The new price will then be announced on the first of every month, followed by enforcement on the eighth of each month; retailers are given a grace period of one week to comply with the new maximum pricing.

“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will announce the price of [CPO for] the previous month, and that price will be the benchmark to determine the retail price of pure palm cooking oil sold without subsidy. MPOB has informed that the average price of CPO for July was at RM4,063 per metric ton. Based on that price, the selling price of cooking oil in 5kg bottles [will] be set at RM34.70 [for August],” said Tan Sri Annuar.

The minister also added that this ceiling price is only applicable for Peninsular Malaysia, and that he expects this mechanism to be maintained in the coming months. Additionally, the taskforce will soon share a pricing schedule that includes the ceiling price for other weights of bottled cooking oil as well.

Tan Sri Annuar further explained that this method was adopted to allow for a more accurate pricing of palm cooking oil for the benefit of the public, as well as in a timelier manner. “This method is to make sure that when CPO price goes up, [we] won’t raise the cooking oil price too quickly, and when the CPO price goes down, [we] won’t be too slow to lower the cooking oil price. This happened in the past. So with this method agreed upon by the industry, every increase or decrease in the CPO price must be reflected in the retail price as soon as possible, in this case one month after the official price is announced,” he said.

The government had stopped providing subsidy for bottled palm cooking oil (2kg, 3kg, and 5kg) starting from 1 July 2022, but this unfortunately led to significant hikes in the price of the commodity soon after. Earlier efforts by the Jihad Tangani Inflasi taskforce to resolve the situation bore no fruit, which ultimately led them to reintroduce a ceiling price for bottled palm cooking oil.

Meanwhile, cooking oil in polybag packages (1kg) is still being subsidised. It is currently priced at RM2.50 each.

(Sources: The Edge Markets, Malay Mail)

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Alex Cheong Pui Yin

Previously covered recruitment-related stories and had a short stint as a copywriter for the property industry. She subsequently developed an interest in investment and robo-advisors.

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