Archived News

09/02/2012 (Jakarta Globe) - Indonesia has come under greater scrutiny over its policy to encourage palm oil development, following a report by US authorities that fuels derived from the commodity were not as environmentally friendly as initially believed.

09/02/2012 (Fox Business) - Maersk Line, the world's largest container ship operator, anticipates a 50% decline in growth levels in Asian shipments of rice and palm oil to Africa this year, citing adequate volumes in West Africa after heavy restocking in 2011, a director told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

09/02/2012 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Watalawa Plantations Plc said cash from the sale of a marketing arm will be used to expand oil palm, boost efficiencies in its tea estates and cut debt, as interest rates continued to rise.

09/02/2012 (The Sun) - Pipe-coating specialist Wah Seong Corp Bhd's plan to start a huge oil palm plantation in Africa drew mixed response from the market, with some wary about the group taking on a big risk by venturing into a new business in an unpredictable region.

09/02/2012 (TODAYonline) - Indonesian palm oil firm Bumitama Gunajaya Agro is reviving its S$200 million initial public offering in Singapore after shelving it in June due to market uncertainty, a signal that investor appetite for IPOs could be returning.

09/02/2012 (Business Times) - Data on external demand for Malaysian products in December last year is expected to come in weaker, said economists.

09/02/2012 (Times Of Zambia ) - Zambia and Congo DR are in the next couple of weeks expected to sign an economic agreement to facilitate smooth trade between the two neighbouring countries, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Robert Sichinga has said.

09/02/2012 (Bloomberg) - Michael Coleman is suspending a three-decade trading career to focus on risk after a year in which the Merchant Commodity Fund he co-founded lost 30 percent and its assets contracted twice as much.

09/02/2012 (Bernama) - Malaysia exported RM130 billion worth of commodities last year, reflecting global acceptance of the country's products.

08/02/2012 (Bloomberg) - Palm oil inventory in Malaysia, the world’s second-biggest supplier after Indonesia, probably declined to a five-month low in January after production fell for a third month, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

08/02/2012 (Reuters) - EU palm oil imports will be steady in 2012 as the economic downturn offsets attractive prices, and more biodiesel producers are expected to go under, a head of the Dutch industry body told Reuters on Tuesday.

08/02/2012 (Business Recorder) - Pakistan and Indonesia have ratified a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) clearing the way for trade liberalisation between the two countries.