Archived News

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- The slightly tight supply of crudepalm oil (CPO) in 2005 due to weather conditions, will bring forth abullish market for the commodity, said Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Bernama) -- The World Bank has projected moderategrowth for Malaysia of around 5.25 percent in 2005 and 2006 after theeconomy expanded by 7.1 percent last year, the highest annual rate sincethe financial crisis.

4/26/2005 - Supplies of vegetable oils to European food makers willincrease as US ingredients behemoth Cargill expands palm and coconut oiloperations in Europe, reports Lindsey Partos.

Tuesday April 26, 04:06 AM - JAKARTA (AFX) - China's CITIC Group is toinvest 500 mln usd in an integrated palm oil project in a partnership withdiversified conglomerate Sinar Mas Group.The two parties have also signed a cooperation agreement with ChinaDevelopment Bank, a statement issued by Sinar Mas Group said.Under the cooperation, CITIC will be responsible as a contractor to buildroads, bridges, irrigation, a crude palm oil (CPO) processing plant,warehousing and transportation facilities, housing and other necessaryfacilities. It will also procure processing machinery. The constructionwill take four years.Sinar Mas will be responsible for acquiring land and for operating theplantations.The statement did not give further details regarding the location of theproject or when it will start.Sinar Mas spokesperson Yan Partawijaya told XFN-Asia that the details ofthe project are not yet available.(1 usd = 9,645 rupiah)

PUTRAJAYA, April 26 (Bernama) -- Beginning Thursday, scientists,entrepreneurs and policy-makers will be mapping out strategies at athree-day conference here for Malaysia to generate more wealth and effectgreater social well-being through a relatively new growth sector --biotechnology.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 -- MMC Corporation Bhd is still waiting forinstruction and communication from the government on the revival of theRM14 billion double-tracking rail project which was deferred in late 2003.

25/04/05 - PT Musim Mas, an integrated palm oil producer, has embarked onan expansion of its oleochemical plant near the North Sumatra port ofBelawan that will increase its annual production capacity to 357,000metric tons of fatty alcohol, medium-chain triglycerides, oleic acid,glycerine, fatty acids and high-quality soap.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - The palm oil industry contributed some RM30bilto the country’s economy last year, Plantation Industries and CommoditiesMinister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said.

26/04/05 - THE Transport Ministry has proposed that the Government revivethe postponed RM14 billion double-tracking railway project following plansto aggressively improve the country's railway system under the 9thMalaysia Plan.Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said his ministry is nowwaiting for the approval to proceed with the plan.He said the present double-tracking railway network, stretching fromSeremban to Ipoh, is part of the 7th and 8th Malaysia Plans. With theadvent of the 9th Malaysia Plan, it is only logical to extend the presentnetwork beyond Ipoh."The ministry is seriously looking at improving the country's railwaysystem and will allocate a substantial portion of our 9th Malaysia Planbudget for this."We are now waiting to get the approval from the Cabinet to proceed withthe project to further improve the present railway network," he toldreporters after officiating at the 1st Asia Rail Conference & Exhibitionin Petaling Jaya yesterday.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in December 2003 froze theIpoh-Padang Besar and Seremban-Johor Baru double-tracking project as partof efforts to gradually reduce the nation's budget deficit.Prior to the postponement, Malaysia Mining Corp Bhd (MMC) and Gamuda Bhdwere awarded the contract to carry out the project on a 50-50 jointventure basis.Other bidders eyeing the project include Indian Railway Construction Co(Ircon) and China Railway Engineering Corp.Chan said the ministry has also proposed that the double-tracking railwayproject be divided into several portions to help lessen the financialburden."Instead of carrying out the project at one go for both north and south,it is better for the construction works to be carried out in stages. Mostlikely we will focus on the northern portion," he added.On whether the MMC-Gamuda consortium will remain the main contractor forthe project, he said he will let the Government study the matter.In a phone interview later, Chan told Business Times that the mainpriority now is to get the project approved."That is why we are proposing to stagger the project so it will not be tooexpensive," he added.Meanwhile, Avenue Securities senior analyst Kamarulzaman Hassan said he isconfident that the MMC-Gamuda consortium will remain the main contractorsfor the project.The consortium could break up the project into several more phases, orsub-contract it to more companies.However, he has his doubts that the Cabinet will agree to the revival ofthe project, given its exorbitant cost."It is true that the 9th Malaysia Plan aims to further improve thecountry's railway system."However, I think the plan would focus more on repairing the presentsingle railway line."Such a move alone is expected to cost around RM3 billion. I think thedouble-tracking project would be a bit too expensive for the country atthe moment," he added.

April 27 2005 - SARAWAK Oil Palms Bhd (SOPB) plans to spend RM79.5million to build a new crude palm oil (CPO) mill and upgrade its twoexisting mills.

26/04/05 - THE Sarawak State Government is building a RM4.2 billionintegrated pulp and paper mill in Bintulu. It has incorporated a company,Tatau Pulp Manufacturer Sdn Bhd, to carry out the project expected topossibly start operating around 2008.The company received the Federal Government's approval to build thefactory late last year and the Sarawak Government has gazetted andalienated 1,000 hectares to the Bintulu Development Authority whicheffectively owns Tatau Pulp."Our development is not a revival of the Borneo Pulp and Paper project.Although we're in the same town, the Tatau Pulp project is totallydifferent. We're 100 per cent owned by the Sarawak Government," directorLen Talif Salleh said.Speaking to Business Times at the Swedish Pulp and Paper Technologyseminar in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Len said the company may considerraising funds by issuing Islamic bonds."We'll be leaving for the UK, Germany and Sweden to look at machineriesand the different financing options for the pulp and paper mill project,"he added.Len, who is also Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp general manager,estimates that it would take three years to get the right financingarrangement and equip the factory with the relevant machineries to churnout 650,000 tonnes of writing and printing paper annually.He said work on the integrated pulp and paper mill project had alreadystarted with farmed forest of the acacia mangium species. "Every year, theGovernment allocates RM60 million to replant 20,000ha secondary forestwith acacia mangium," he said.In May 2003, the Sarawak Forestry Department handed over a 54,000ha sitefor the planting of acacia mangium to Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd in KakusDistrict, about 90km from Bintulu.Grand Perfect is a consortium of three major timber companies in Sarawak -KTS Timber Industries Bhd, Samling Strategic Corp Sdn Bhd and Ta AnnHolding Bhd.The RM180 million acacia mangium planting exercise is Malaysia's largestsingle species plantation to supply wood for a pulp and paper project on asustainable basis. "Tatau Pulp is planning to sign a pulp supply agreementwith the Sarawak Government in the last quarter of the year," Len said.

HONIARA, April 26 Asia Pulse - A group of chiefs in the Solomon Islands isthreatening to seek legal action against the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) signed between Guadalcanal Resource Development Association and theBritain Palm Oil Company.