Archived News

3/5/05 - Brazil's 2004-05 soybean crop (October-September) will onlytotal around 53.1 million metric tons because drought has ravaged fieldsacross southern states, local analysts Agroconsult said Friday.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- India is now looking to importoilseeds, particularly rapeseed and sunseed, to replace vegetable oils, amove which may adversely affect palm oil exports to the country.

Friday March 4, 2:39 PM KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Imports of edible oilsby India, the world's biggest importer, could stay flat at around 4.8million tonnes in 2004/05, but soy oil will gain market share at theexpense of palm oil, a respected industry analyst, Dorab Mistry, said onFriday.

March 04, 2005 11:00 IST - Malaysia has asked India to lower its duties onvegetable oils and fats, which forms a major chunk of Kuala Lumpur'sexports to the country, to a level comparable of soya oil.Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin FahKui said he planned to meet his Indian counterpart to seek clarificationon India's policy on the issue, a media report said on Friday.

Saturday March 5, 2005 - Palm oil exports from Malaysia may rise as muchas 6.7% this year because a drop in prices has made the edible oil moreattractive to buyers, Oil World said.

3/5/05 - IN what could be termed as an unusual unanimity of views,almost all the speakers at the Palm Oil Price Outlook 2005 conference heresaid they expected crude palm oil prices to rule between Malaysia ringgit(MYR) 1,300 and 1,500 a tonne, with the average lying somewherein-between.

3/4/2005 Thai Press Reports - Thai Vegetable Oil, manufacturer of A-ngoonsoybean cooking oil for almost 37 years, is now studying a variety ofnatural ingredients for use in a new premium product targeted athealth-conscious consumers, The Nation reports.

3/2/05 - Premiums of soybeans delivered to Asia are likely to fall in theweek ahead as key consumers here continue to shun expensive U.S. soybeans.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia will introduce a CommonTrading Platform (CTP) for derivatives trading in the second quarter ofthis year to spur further growth of the local crude palm oil futuresmarket, its chairman, Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, Thursday.

Friday March 4, 2005 - BURSA Malaysia Bhd chairman Tun Mohamed DzaiddinAbdullah said the exchange’s implementation of a common trading platformby the second quarter of this year will boost the derivatives market.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- The rise in petroleum prices over thepast two years has increased the average production cost of vegetable oilto between US$20 and US$30 per tonne.

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India's soy oil millers are upset about thefederal government cutting the base price on which the import duty of soyoil is calculated, a senior industry official said late Wednesday."The change in tariff value at this time when (a bumper) rapeseed cropis (being harvested) may send (the wrong) signal to oilseed farmers. Thismay motivate the farmer to shift from oilseeds to other competing crops,"saidRajesh Agrawala, chairman of the Soybean Processors Association of India,or SOPA.On Tuesday, India's federal government cut the base price on which theimport duty of soy oil is calculated to $485 a metric ton from $565/ton.Generally, the base price of imported edible oil is cut or hiked by thegovernment to keep the base price as close as possible to the prevailinginternational price of that edible oil.The current international soy oil price is around $550/ton-$560/ton, sothere is "no rationale in reducing" the base price, Agrawala said.The federal government doesn't provide explanations for cuts or hikes inthe base price of any imported edible oil.