Archived News

30/10/2007 (The Star Online), Petaling Jaya - Plantation and civil engineering counter Astral Asia Bhd is likely to boost its plantation landbank by more than 10 times with its recent agreement to develop plantations in Myanmar costing about RM680mil.

29/10/2007 (Trading Markets.com), Kuala Lumpur - Astral Asia Berhad (AAB)(KLSE:7054) on Friday said it had teamed up with two Myanmarese firms to develop 170,000 acres of virgin land into oil palm plantations in southern Myanmar.

29/10/2007 (International Herald Tribune), Singapore - Second-generation biofuels, made from products like waste from agriculture and forestry, may not yet be a commercial reality, but that is not preventing Singapore from trying to position itself to become a major processing and trading hub in Asia for new clean energies.

27/10/2007 (The International News, Pakistan), Islamabad - The Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association (PVMA) has expressed its annoyance and displeasure over government’s action to reduce ghee prices by 25 per cent.

27/10/2007 (Bangkok Post) - The Commerce Ministry is considering approving higher retail prices for cooking palm oil, acknowledging the impact of soaring demand for biofuels on raw material prices.

26/10/2007 (Business Times) - MALAYSIAN palm oil futures surged to a record high today as crude oil hit a record and Indonesia raised export taxes for the commodity.

28/10/2007 (Daily Camera Online) - Sane environmental policies are difficult if not impossible to achieve because so many myths separate reality from wishful thinking. Consider the claim that biofuels and sustainability are the same thing. Closer examination of the current ethanol fantasy proves the point.

29/10/2007 (The Age) - A PROMINENT United Nations activist against famine has demanded a five-year moratorium on biofuels as a new report showed Australia could use its sugar to become a major global provider of ethanol.

25/10/2007 (Material Handling World Magazine, UK) - Waste vegetable oil to stimulate biodiesel industry With almost 75,000 tonnes of waste vegetable oil being transformed into biodiesel each year, proposals launched today by the Environment Agency and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) aiming to cut regulatory red-tape so that waste vegetable oil from places like chip shops can be processed and used in engines more easily.

26/10/2007 (The Star Online), Jakarta - Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, will raise the export tax rate on crude palm oil to 10% next month, a trade ministry official said.

25/10/2007 (GulfNews.com), Dubai - Doctors warned 30 years ago about a possible link between heart attacks and coconut oil commonly used in cooking by south Indian expatriates.

25/102/2007 (Taranaki Daily News) - Palm kernel is derived from the oil palm, a native to West Africa and Central and South America.