Archived News

24/11/2008 (The Economic Times) - It is said that food is recession-proof. However, if the recent weakness in vegetable oil prices is considered, the above statement may not seem to be as true as it sounds. For an investor in the vegetable oil market currently, the clock has turned three years back to ’05, when the early signs of a boom in the commodities market were just beginning to show. The rally, which took three years to build, fizzled out in barely three months.

24/11/2008 (Business Standard) - India, the world’s biggest buyer of vegetable oil after China, may increase palm oil imports after the government imposed a tax on purchases of crude soybean oil, the main substitute product, a trade body said.

22/11/2008 (Commodity Online) - Fundamental Analysis: MCX CPO futures closed higher on account of Government of India allowed to exporting of edible oil in small branded packages of 5 kg with immediate effect.

22/11/2008 (Daily Times), Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian crude palm oil futures tumbled 5.6 percent on Friday following a sharp sell-off in US crude oil, traders said.

24/11/2008 (Asia Sentinel) - Despite endorsement by a tame certifier, Southeast Asia’s miracle oil faces trouble.

22/11/2008 (The Star Online), Petaling Jaya - Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) exporters are in a quandary as the global financial crisis and the plunge in CPO prices have made it difficult for foreign importers to obtain letters of credit (LCs).

22/11/2008 (Business Times, Malaysia), Singapore - The International Finance Corp (IFC), the World Bank’s investment arm, said it will help lenders in Indonesia to finance small-scale oil palm growers to encourage so-called sustainable practices and forestall climate change.

21/11/2008 (The Star Online) - OIL is the lifeblood of the transport sector the world over. Malaysia’s transport sector too is heavily dependent on oil as 95% of the fuel used is petrol and diesel.

21/11/2008 (The Star Online) - The current large discount in the crude palm oil (CPO) price of US$300 to US$330 per tonne against soybean oil will further boost local palm oil exports in the next six months, but CPO price will remain depressed due to high stockpiles, analysts said.

20/11/2008 (Business Standard) - The edible oil industry has seen a growing number of import defaulters, but domestic refiners are not worried. Processing margins have in fact doubled to 4 per cent in the past one year with most fly-by-night operators exiting the industry.

20/11/2008 (The Malaysian Insider), Jakarta - The Indonesian government has defended the country's drive to expand oil palm cultivation, resisting demands by environmentalists who say it is destroying the country's natural forests and peatlands.

20/11/2008 (The Star Online), Kuala Lumpur - Plantation heavyweight Sime Darby Bhd is making its first foray into the downstream palm oil business in China via the setting up of a joint venture (JV) company with Dongguan Sinograin Oils & Grains Company Ltd.