Archived News

2/2/05 Oilmandi INDIA - "Import of oilseeds is better than having toimport the finished product."

Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - JAMBI - Jambi city has been blanketed by hazefor the past several days as a result of fires that have burned hundredsof hectares of palm oil plantations in Muarojambi regency.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will have to move toproductivity driven based economy underpinned by greater emphasis onresearch and development in view of the slowing exports growth this year,said leading economists.

3/2/05Lack Of Ships Hinder Indonesia's CPO Exports(Dow Jones)--Lack of ships slowing Indonesia CPO exports, creating excesssupply at local market and driving CPO prices down, says PT PerkebunanNusantara official. "Exporters can't ship their CPO because many ships arebeing used to transport crude oil," said Syariful Ramli Lubis, PTPN'sauction official. Benchmark CPO price at PTPN's auction IDR3,219/kg vsIDR3,232/kg Feb. 1. PTPN only sold 2,000 tons of CPO out of 3,500 tonsoffered at the auction due to poor demand.

Feb 02 3:42 PM - PAPUA New Guinea's New Britain Palm Oil Limited has been given the green light to rehabilitate the palm oil industry in the Solomon Islands.

2/2/2005 Agra Europe - India's summer oilseeds crop is expected to bounceback and match a year earlier's output, after erratic rains caused adecline in the winter harvest, traders said on Monday.

1/31/05 Oilmandi INDIA - The Asian soybean rust fungus is expected to playhavoc in the coming months. The U.S. crop, to be harvested in November, isalready affected and this is likely to drop the global output for thesoybean year 2005-06 (July-June), traders said Saturday.

20/1/05 INDIA - THE MINISTER FOR Agriculture and Food, Mr Sharad Pawar'sexplosive statement in Mumbai at the World Congress of InternationalAssociation of Seed Crushers that there was a need to encourage import ofhigh oil content oilseeds and genetically-modified seeds to overcome theshortage of raw material for the crushing and processing industry has sentthe entire industry into a tizzy. It is unclear what provoked thestatement. With a record rise in global oilseeds output this year,especially of soyabean in the US, suppliers are scouting for new marketsthat would support their farm-gate prices. The Minister has willy-nillysent out a signal that India is opening its doors to oilseeds and to thegenetically-modified (GM) varieties even.

31/1/05 (Dow Jones)--RBD palm olein prices in China likely to stay weak inshort to medium term as demand still sluggish due to low temperatures,says Shanghai Pansun; stocks at main ports estimated around240,000-250,000 tons, which would take time to be consumed, keeping pricesunder pressure. Room for fresh imports also likely limited in near termdue to negative margins as selling prices in domestic market (aroundCNY4,150/ton) below import cost.

NEW DELHI, JAN 23: Budget 2005-06 is likely to restructure import tariffson oilseeds and edible oils. The ministry of consumer affairs has proposeda halving of the import duty on oilseeds to 15%. It has also recommendedrationalisation of the customs duties on edible oils, which would entaillowering duties on most products, according to senior officials.

30/1/05 PAKISTAN - The population of Pakistan has increased from 32.5million in 1947 to 149.5 million currently. The consumption of edible oilhas also been increased proportionally from 0.3 million tons to 1.95million tons during the last two decades. The population is increasing ata rapid rate but the production is meagre and fluctuating.

30/1/05 Pakistan - Although, Pakistan 80 per cent cultivatable area isirrigated but the edible oil needs are met through imports. The importbill rising from Rs77 million in 1969-70 to Rs39 billion in 2002-03 hasoverburdened the exchequer.