Junta security services arrested the chair and four members of the Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association (MEODA) on Wednesday night as the regime struggles to quell the soaring price of edible oil.
MEODA chairman U San Lin was arrested along with merchants U Aye Sein, U Myint Kyu, U Wan Htike, and U Tun Tun in raids on their homes conducted by the Office of the Chief of Myanmar Security Affairs (OCMSA) and the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI) under the junta’s Home Affairs Ministry. The five are accused of violating price controls set by the junta.
“The last we heard is that they were taken to a military interrogation center in Insein Township, but we have no updates so far,” said a logistics company owner who has worked with U San Lin for a long time.
A MEODA member who requested anonymity said the arrests were made a few days after a task force was formed in cooperation with the association to combat volatility in edible oil prices.
The task force was formed on Aug. 28 in a bid to ensure that shops and traders across the country could buy edible oil at wholesale reference prices under a transparent public distribution system.
“We were trying to solve this step by step and U San Lin was aiding these efforts,” the MEODA member said. “But the sudden arrest of him and others has caused fear and dismay among us.”
The five were arrested for selling imported palm oil at prices set according to the US dollar exchange rate in the market rather than the junta’s official rate, explained a member of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).
“The regime ordered them to sell palm oil at 4,000 kyats per viss, while they and all other importers are actually selling at an average of at least 10,000 kyats,” he said.
Importers of edible palm oil complain that if they price their product according to the junta’s dollar exchange rate, they make huge losses as they have to buy imports at the market rate.
Junta Telegram propaganda channels have accused the MEODA chair and members of manipulating the market and making profits of millions of dollars per month.
The junta Commerce Ministry’s Supervisory Committee on Edible Oil Import and Distribution is also closely monitoring prices in Malaysia and Indonesia, Myanmar importers’ main source of palm oil.
The committee this week set the Yangon wholesale reference price for palm oil from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3 at K4,155 per viss. However, the price in the market is still double that figure.
The committee warned that retailers and wholesalers caught overcharging, hoarding stock, or manipulating the market will face legal action under the Essential Supplies and Service Act, according to an Aug. 28 Ministry of Commerce statement.
However, experts warn that such drastic market intervention usually backfires.
“Criminalizing the merchants is not a solution and only leads to injustice. Every event in the market always has causes, and it’s very sensitive to handle. If the junta continues to handle the issue in this way, people will have to face shortages of palm oil in the coming months,” said U Moe, an economist based in Yangon.
Myanmar consumes about 1 million tonnes of edible oil per year but produces only about 400,000 tonnes. To meet domestic demand, about 700,000 tonnes of cooking oil needs to be imported from Malaysia and Indonesia every year.
