Archived News

24/06/2009 (Reuters), Rio De Janerio - Brazilian miner Vale will save an estimated $150 million in fuel costs starting in 2014 by producing its own palm-oil based biodiesel, the company said on Wednesday.

24/06/2009 (Reuters), New Delhi - India, the world\'s biggest vegetable oil buyer after China, should tax imports of cooking fat to check a surge in overseas purchases, a leading trade body said on Wednesday.

24/06/2009 (Jakarta Globe), Kuala Lumpur - Palm oil futures tracked crude oil and soybeans lower on concern the global recession would slow demand for its use as food and fuel.

24/06/2009 (The Star Online), Kuala Lumpur - Indonesia’s plan to achieve about 40 million tonnes of annual palm oil production by 2020 is still up in the air, says Indonesian Palm Oil Board (IPOB) vice-chairman Derom Bangun.

24/06/2009 (The Star Online), Kuala Lumpur - Issues on European buyers’ reluctance to pay a premium price on certified sustainable palm oil, Malaysia’s stagnant palm oil yield, human capital, biofuel viability, food versus fuel debate, environmental and sustainability were the highlights at the 6th International Planters Conference (IPC 2009) yesterday.

23/06/2009 (The Independent) - Perched halfway up a tree near a bend in the Seumayan River, a young orang-utan lounges on a branch, eating fruit. In the distance, smoke rises from an illegal fire, one of dozens lit to wipe out the virgin rainforest and replace it with oil palm plantations.

23/06/2009 (Mongabay.com) - A Scottish firm has been implicated in funding a plan that would destroy the rainforest habitat of critically endangered orangutans in Sumatra.

23/06/2009 (The Star Online), Kuala Lumpur - An efficient research and development (R&D) operation is crucial for palm oil to maintain and extend its global presence as the industry moves into increasingly uncertain environment wth economic dislocation and climatic changes.

22/06/2009 (The Times) - Q I recently bought a bottle of cooking oil sourced from palm oil. It tastes fine and the label says it’s healthy and comes from environmentally sustainable plantations. But there has been a lot of adverse publicity about such oils — what should I believe?

22/06/2009 (Jakatra Globe) - Despite the environmental issues surrounding crude palm oil production, CPO exports to the European Union over the first quarter of the year saw a 16 percent increase from the same period in 2008.

22/06/2009 (Jakatra Globe) - The management of natural resources has always been a hot issue for debate and will feature prominently in the upcoming presidential election. The debate over a neo-liberal economy versus a people-oriented economy has successfully spiced up the politicking. Among the hot buttons of debate is the management of oil and gas, which have always been at the center of political attention, attracting state institutions and politicians to involve themselves in the process, the most important aspect of which is the renegotiation of oil and gas contracts.

20/06/2009 (Deforestration Watch) - Palm oil is a vegetable oil, not an animal or dairy product, and therefore does not contain cholesterol. It is produced from the fruit of the Elaeis guineensis. Palm oil sometimes is confused with palm kernel oil, but is in fact different, being derived from the mesocarp of the palm fruit rather than the centre kernel.