Archived News

15/07/2009 (Times Online) - After years of sneering and dragging its feet, the world’s biggest oil company has declared its love for renewable energy: ExxonMobil is teaming up with Craig Venter, the biotech entrepreneur, to develop new road fuels using photosynthetic algae.

14/07/2009 (WWF), China – Major China-based producers and users of palm oil have announced they intend to provide more support for sustainable palm oil, an important boost for efforts to halt tropical deforestation.

14/07/2009 (Bloomberg) - Vegetable oil imports by India, the biggest buyer after China, will rebound starting next month as traders stockpile the commodity to meet festival demand, the nation’s second-biggest buyer said.

14/07/2009 (The Economic Times), Bangalore - India’s edible oil imports during the first six months of the current calendar year soared by 73% year on year as fears of an increase in customs duty weighed on importers’ minds forcing more global purchases.

13/07/2009 (Biofuel Review) - A co-operation agreement covering the sale, processing and development of a new non edible oil seed variant for biodiesel, known as Isis, has been signed by two Ukranian companies Landkom International and Sunfuel Ukraine. The two companies have jointly tested Isis in Ukraine, Europe and South Africa with leading universities and commercial fuel companies and are now, they say, moving to commercialise the seed.

11/07/2009 (Bloomberg) - Indonesia’s economy may double in the next six years as the world’s biggest exporter of power- station coal and largest producer of palm oil taps surging demand from India and China, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said.

14/07/2009 (Business Times) - PLANTATION stocks in Southeast Asia will have a rough ride ahead due to rising output, uncertain weather conditions and the still hazy global economic outlook, said Malaysian fund manager OSK-UOB yesterday.

12/07/2009 (Mongabay.com) - Auckland Zoo has pulled Cadbury chocolates from its shops and restaurants following the candy maker's decision to start adding palm oil to its chocolates, reports the Sunday Star Times.

10/07/2009 (Xinhua), Kinshasa - China's ZTE Agribusiness Company Ltd is aiming at a 1 million hectare palm tree plantation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) for biofuel production, and the project can offer thousands of jobs for the local people, the company's regional manager Zhang Peng told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.

10/07/2009 (The Star Online) - QL Resources Bhd wants to triple the profit contribution from its palm oil operations by 2015 as it is bullish about the long-term growth outlook for the commodity, a top executive said yesterday.

09/07/2009 (Environmental Finance), London - Three European banks have come under fire from environmentalists for their involvement in a fund-raising by palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), which NGOs claim is involved in rainforest destruction.

09/07/2009 (The Star Online), Petaling Jaya - Crude palm oil (CPO) prices might have peaked two months ago and are likely to head lower for the rest of the year on weak industry fundamentals, analysts say.