Archived News

JAKARTA (March 19): Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday after hitting a three-month low last week, but high stockpiles of the vegetable oil will likely continue to put pressure on prices.

JAKARTA: Indonesia slammed the European Commission’s adoption of a draft regulation to phase out the use of palm oil in renewable transportation fuel and warned the move could hurt relations with EU members backing the proposal.

French parliamentarians scrapped plans for a tax on unsustainable palm oil in 2016 after being warned by France’s government that passing the law could lead to the execution of a French citizen in Indonesia.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele on Monday said that over five hundred million dollars was being spent annually on importation of palm oil.

Indonesia’s rapid jump in palm oil production in the past year has caused a glut in the commodity’s global supply. Following market principles, prices tumbled under the intense market pressure, leaving millions of people whose lives depend on palm oil production, processing and distribution to suffer the consequences.

Palm oil emerged as a flashpoint in a potential trade war between the European Union and some of the world’s largest palm oil producing countries after the EU imposed stricter limits on how the palm oil can be used in green fuels.

Malaysian palm oil futures continued to slide early Monday tracking weak soyoil and in absence of fresh cues, after three straight weeks of declines dragged by demand concerns.

Both palm oil producers and environmental activists expressed dismay over the European Union’s move, saying the policy is discriminatory and will still allow palm oil used as biofuels to continue to be treated as a renewable fuel.

AMID tough global market challenges, Indonesia’s palm oil producers have to start expanding in the domestic market in order to boost absorption and stay afloat.

KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): The adoption of the European Commission’s (EC) draft delegated act on high indirect land-use change (ILUC) risk feedstock -- which places palm oil at a competitive disadvantage against other biofuel feedstock -- should be suspended, says the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

FOREIGN Minister Rimbink Pato officially announced that Papua New Guinea has signed a trade continuity agreement which will see British businesses and consumers benefiting from continued trading arrangements.

AMELIA ISLAND, FLA. — Ambassador Gregg Doud, chief agricultural negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, briefed members of the National Grain and Feed Association on March 17 on what he called an extraordinary period of engagement with other nations about adjusting policies and terms of trade. Mr. Doud addressed the U.S.-China trade talks, the importance of ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (U.S.M.C.A.), efforts to secure a free trade agreement with Japan and difficulties encountered in crafting a trade agreement with the European that would include agriculture.