Archived News

Wednesday June 1, 2005, 5:39 pm KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--The palm oilindustry plans to unveil in November a set of standards on environmentallyfriendly and socially responsible production practices, marking a majorstep forward in the fledgling cooperation between the industry andnon-governmental organizations.Set up in mid-2004, the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO, asthe multiparty association is better known, had as its initial task theformulation of a credible definition of sustainable palm oil.Now, about a year later, the grouping of sides that have long been at oddsover environmental and rights issues is close to making a breakthrough."Our main focus so far has been to develop a set of criteria on whatsustainable palm oil entails. We set up a working group in October andwe've had two draft documents that have come out for public consultation,"the RSPO's newly appointed secretary-general Andrew Ng said in aninterview."The goal is to have the (final) criteria document launched at our 3rdRoundtable meeting in November."That meeting is scheduled for Nov. 22-23 in Singapore, a key regionalfinancial center neighboring two of the world's largest palm oil producers- Malaysia, where the Rasp's secretariat is based, and Indonesia.The criteria on sustainable palm oil will cover various aspects of palmoil production, including legal, economic, technical, environmental andsocial aspects.Admittedly, some aspects are more complicated, if not contentious, thanothers, which is why defining sustainable palm oil has been a longprocess, Nag said.Issues like optimizing productivity, zero-burning, integrated pestmanagement and waste management are among the easier aspects, sincegenerally, they are already being practiced in the industry."But then, there are some really difficult issues like biodiversity -things that the plantations industry has not done before and that takestime to be explained," Ng said."So, pulling people together and narrowing the gap is part of the wholelearning process that everyone is going through."Just as in the development of any multilateral agreement, the wordings tobe used in the RSPO's criteria document can also be the subject ofopposing views that take time to be resolved, Ng added.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (Bernama) -- Japan has voiced its support for theproposed tariff reduction on Malaysian palm oil exports to be brought upat the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong inDecember, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk AhmadHusni Hanadzlah said here Friday.

01 June, 2005 Tuaran: Coconuts and oil palm at the Sabah AgriculturalPark in Tenom are among those attacked by the Asiatic Rhinoceros beetle,causing extensive damage and their proliferation lately has beenattributed to decades of logging which has left tonnes of wood rotting inthe forests, among others.

6/2/2005 New Zealand Press Association, Ashburton - Mid Canterbury graingrowers are concerned at the potential risk of bird flu posed by importingpalm kernel from Malaysia.

6/2/2005 Manila Standard - Coconut and fish products from the Philippinesnow have a chance of getting market access in the 25 member-states of theEuropean Union bloc after the signing of a 3.5 million euros (P240.8million) bilateral agreement.

BANGKOK, June 4 (TNA) - The Thai government plans to grow palm treescovering five million rai by 2008.

6/2/2005 Delta Farm Press - The United States has ample, exportablesupplies on hand in several major commodities at the same time worldsupplies in those commodities are falling. This could be positive for U.S.exports of rice, corn and soybeans in 2005-06, according to a marketanalyst.

5/23/2005 - Leading US supplement retailer GNC is rolling out the firstproduct containing the satiety ingredient Olibra, a combination of palmand oat oil fractions developed by Sweden’s LTP Lipid TechnologiesProvider, reports Dominique Patton.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysian exporters will benefit fromthe new European Union (EU) Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)scheme, said Herve Jouanjean, deputy director-general of the EuropeanCommission's External Relations Directorate General.

JAKARTA, May 26 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Chemicals will purchase up to$2 billion worth of fatty acids and fatty alcohols from Indonesia over thenext 10 years, a company official said on Thursday."The export value of the contract over 10 years will depend on marketconditions. My estimates are, over 10 years the value of the contract willprobably (be between) $1.7-$2.0 billion," said Martin Herrington, managingdirector for P&G Chemicals Asia.

Friday May 27, 2005, 2:23 pm - BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--The board ofpetrochemical producer Thai Olefins PCL (TOC.TH) has approved a plan toinvest in a $119 millionproject to produce methyl ester and fatty alcohol,the company said Friday. The project is expected to have a debt-to-equityratio of 1:1.

Thursday May 26, 11:40 AM BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--The following table showsThailand's imports of soybeans, soymeal, pulp and palm oil duringJanuary-March 2005, compared with imports in the same period in 2004.