The rising retail price of palm oil for cooking will not affect the price of biodiesel in the country, as the government has already allocated crude palm oil for the household and transport sectors.
The Energy Ministry reported that crude palm oil output for 2019 is projected to rise by 20% to 3 million tonnes, compared with 2.5 million tonnes in 2018.
The government allocated 1 million tonnes of crude palm oil for the household sector and 1.5 million tonnes for transport.
Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphan said the ministry has no authority over retail prices of palm oil for cooking.
"After a massive surplus of crude palm oil since last year, the ministry was ordered to absorb the glut by increasing the content of biodiesel from B7 to B10 and B20," he said.
The ministry plans to bring B10 and B20 to pumps nationwide soon, Mr Siri said.
The crude palm oil for biodiesel is brought to refineries for methyl ester as biodiesel content.
Moreover, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has been told to buy a huge volume of crude palm oil for power generation at the Bang Pakong power plant in an effort to absorb the surplus output.
Egat completed the purchase of the first batch of crude palm oil of 160,000 tonnes, while the second batch is being bought from a Surat Thani warehouse.
The price of fresh palm fruits remains at low levels, with many palm growers calling for the government to intervene in the palm oil supply chain.
"Cooking palm oil is not our responsibility, as the ministry oversees biodiesel and power generation and monitors overall supply and demand of crude palm oil," Mr Siri said.