Local cooking oil mills holds only 5 percent of market shares in the domestic oil market for this year due to the pandemic

Local cooking oil mills have been struggling to have market share in the domestic oil market for years. Their struggle continues as they only manage to hold 5 percent of the market, U Khin Soe, President of Mynamar Edible Oil Millers Association, told Myanmar Business Today.

“We have been struggling even before the COVID-19,” he continued.

Their trouble can be traced back as far as the 2000s when imported oils crushed local producers and got worse after the emergence of chemical that can make oil smell like groundnut oil or sesame oil in 2012. Their market share has shrunk over the years, he said.

It is mainly because of the price. Consumers, most of them are working people, chose price over quality as a viss (1.63kg) of groundnut oil, sunflower oil, or sesame oil is around K6,000 while imported mixed low-quality oils are sold half of that price.

Imported oil dominates the domestic market holding a lion share of 80 percent while other oils such as gutter oil take 15 percent.

Since 1990, the country imported 5,000 to 10,000 tons of edible oil per month, and after three decades, edible oil importation reached as high as 50,000-70,000 tons per month.
The government has recently announced plans to import 12,000 metric tons of palm oil from to secure its food security during the COVID-19.

(Myanmar Business Today: https://mmbiztoday.com/local-oil-mill-holds-only-5-of-market-share/ )

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