Archived News

08/04/2010 (NY Daily News) - The fats hidden in many packaged foods can be especially deadly if you’re a woman.

08/04/2010 (AllAfrica.com) - The government is calling on stakeholders to submit their business plans for assistance.

08/04/2010 (PTI), New Delhi - Crude palm oil futures prices were up by Rs 0.60 to Rs 364.30 per 10 kg today after traders enlarged positions, driven by pick up in demand in the spot market.

08/04/2010 (Los Angeles) - A microorganism and bug are devastating the imported African trees, which were meant to offer an alternative to coca growers and feed a biofuel industry. The government had pushed the crop.

07/04/2010 (Mongabay.com) - The world's biggest buyer of palm oil, Unilever, says it will again purchase palm oil from PT SMART, a subsidiary of Indonesian company Sinar Mas, if allegations about deforestation and peatland destruction prove untrue, or if Sinar Mas shows it is addressing the issue. Last December, the food and cosmetic giant, Unilever, suspended its $32.6 million contract with Sinar Mas after an independent audit—spurred by a 2008 Greenpeace report—showed that the Indonesian company was involved in the illegal destruction of rainforests and peatlands. Yet the company now seems to be signaling that the contract is back on the table even as it touts its sustainability efforts to the public.

08/04/2010 (Bernama), Puchong - Palm oil prices can possibly touch RM2,800 or RM3,000 per tonne this year due to strong demand and the El-Nino weather phenomenon, IOI Corporation Bhd Executive Chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng says.

08/10/2010 (Bloomberg) - India, the biggest vegetable oil buyer after China, will import record volumes this year even as the highest ever soybean and canola stockpiles fuel speculation that overseas purchases may slow, Godrej International Ltd. said.

07/04/2010 (Reuters), Paris - Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said they have increased purchases of certified production to accelerate an initiative hit by charges that palm oil is harmful for health and the environment.

07/04/2010 (Jakarta Globe) - PT Unilever Indonesia said on Wednesday it would consider resuming purchases of crude palm oil from the Sinar Mas Group after reviewing the conclusions of two studies of the producer’s environmental practices.

07/04/2010 (Marketing Magazine), London - Unilever is running a national press campaign which highlights its activity in manufacturing products with sustainably sourced palm oil, two years after Greenpeace activists dressed as orangutans staged protests at its sites.

31/03/2010 (Giunandra) - The sentence above is a statement declared by the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with credible input s from Rahmat Witoelar, when Indonesia attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Is the statement politically-marinated? It could be. For scientists, the statement might be categorized as a challenging brainstorming of theoretical concepts and scientific applications. But for well seasoned diplomats, these statements can be likened to be a ‘Public Diplomacy’ which may brighten the image of Indonesia in the international society.

30/03/2010 (Crimson Hexagon) - Recently, Nestle has been under fire from tech-savvy environmentalists over its use of palm oil in Kit Kat bars. On March 17th, Greenpeace released a report about Nestle’s palm oil use, staged a protest outside company headquarters, and posted a negative video on YouTube (not for the faint of heart), each asserting that Nestle bought palm oil from an Indonesian company that causes deforestation.