Archived News

Dr. Drew WernerSeptember 26, 2004

KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- TH Estates Holdings Sdn Bhd (THEstates), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Haji and Jasa BaktiSdn Bhd Monday signed a joint-venture agreement, which will see TH Estatesinjecting RM11.9 million capital to develop an oil palm estate in thestate.

25/09/04 BOMBAY (Reuters) - Global vegetable oil supply is likely toimprove in the last quarter of the current year with the beginning ofharvests in some countries, putting pressure on world prices, a leadingindustry official said on Saturday.

September 27, 2004 KORONADAL CITY -- Palm oil industry players in thecountry are eyeing the development of another 4,000 hectares of land inCentral Mindanao within the next 12 months.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will continue to be among thetwo biggest investors in Indonesia from the Southeast Asian region,S.E. Sugiyono, an Indonesian investment official, said today.He said that up till July 2004 this year alone, Malaysians hadinvested in 85 projects in the country worth US$135.5 million, mostly inthe palm oil and electronics sector.Last year, Malaysians invested in 154 projects worth US$692.4 millionwhile in 2001, investments amounted to US$2.241 billion through 106projects."Malaysia has always been consistent in investing in Indonesia evenduring the tumultous periods," said Sugiyono, who is the Director ofPotential Resources Development and Infrastructure, InvestmentCoordination Organisation under Indonesia's Ministry of Settlements andRegional Infrastructure.He was speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the "Forum BusinessKAPET Indonesia", here today.KAPET is an integrated development zone established to accelerateeconomic development particularly in the Eastern Indonesian region. Thezone is administered by the Ministry of Settlements and RegionalInfrastructure.Encouraging Malaysians to invest in KAPET, Sugiyono said that the areaoffered tremendous potential to investors as the eastern part of Indonesiahad remained largely unexplored.He said the Indonesian government also offered various incentives suchas tax exemptions on value added and luxury goods.Other incentives include exemption on income tax article 22 onimported capital goods and machinery related to the extension of Bondedzones."Language and geography barrier is almost non-existent and thegovernment will assist in providing one stop services for generalinformation, law and licensing services, man power recruitment, taxationand other administrative services," Sugiyono said.He pointed out that fisheries, particularly in the Sulawesi areas,offered the biggest potential while natural resources in agro-industry,forestry, mining and industrial estates were other potential sectors.Along with these, there are also investment opportunities in thedevelopment of infrastructure and facilities such as toll roads, bridges,harbour, airport, electricity, water supply and other utilities, he said.More detailed information on the projects and the procedures of theinvestment are available at the www.kapet.org, he said. For enquiries,potential investors could also e-mail to promo-investasi@cbn.net.id.The Forum Business KAPET Indonesia today was held in conjunction withthe ongoing Indo-Asia Expo Trade and Tourism which was officially openedyesterday at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre here.Small and medium enterprises (SME) under Indonesia's Ministry of StateEnterprise Empowerment, provincial governments, KAPET's directorates,regional industrial and trade regional offices are among some ofparticipants at the four-day event. -- BERNAMA

Monday September 27, 3:23 AM - BOMBAY (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oilfutures are expected to fall to 1,300 ringgit a tonne in coming monthsfrom about 1,450 ringgit recently, on rising world supply and slow demand,a leading analyst said on Sunday.

Monday, September 27 2004 - BURSA Malaysia Bhd is expected tointroduce new measures to encourage more active trading of its crude palmkernel futures contract and Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) options.

YANGON, 26 Sept - Officials reported on paddy cultivation, local foodsufficiency and land reclamation. The agricultural target of TaninthayiDivision is to ensure local food sufficiency and to put lands under500,000 acres of oil palm, 200,000 acres of rubber and 26,000 acres ofpepper. In the mining sector, 223.2254 metric tons of mineral, 359,273.67metric tons of coal, 13,685.91 momme of pearl, 19.944 metric tons ofoyster shell could be produced up to 15 September. Local and foreignentrepreneurs are being invited to extend mineral production. In the meatand fish sector, 28,185.01 tons of fist and prawn could be produced up tothe end of September 2004. And, efforts are being made for breeding ofprawn in 15,000 acres of ponds.

24/09/04 MANILA (Dow Jones)--World coconut oil prices are unchanged toslightly lower this week following an improvement in copra supply andbearish influence from the soy oil market, traders said.Traders said that bearish fundamentals in the soy oil market, courtesyof a bumper soybean crop in the U.S., is exerting pressure on the coconutoil market.One trader said that improvement in copra deliveries as manifested byhigher exports this September is also putting pressure on prices.Philippine exports of coconut oil this month are projected to reach112,000 metric tons, substantially higher from the previous month'sexports of only 75,000 tons."It (export volume) speaks of improvement in our copra supplysituation, which is why there's a slight pressure on prices," one tradersaid.Traders said that bearish fundamentals in the coconut oil market werecushioned by strong domestic demand for palm kernel oil in Malaysia.Manila-based traders quoted coconut oil for August/September shipmentat $675 a metric ton, CIF basis, Rotterdam, unchanged from prices quoted aweek ago.The September/October shipment was quoted at $662.50/ton whileOctober/November delivery was offered at $655/ton. These prices areslightly lower from prices offered last week.Traders said prices are likely to edge lower next week on continuingpressure from the soy oil market.The Philippines is the world's biggest shipper of coconut oil. Exportsthis year are expected to reach 1.02 million tons, slightly lower comparedto 1.2 million tons in 2003.

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Sept 23 Asia Pulse - The country,s palmoil industry may yet develop another 4,000 hectares for plantation inCentral Mindanao within the next 12 months.

September 21, 2004 JAKARTA (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's PT Astra Agro Lestariexpects the country's crude palm oil exports to India to rise by 5%-10%following India's decision to lower CPO tariff values by $50 a metric ton,Bisnis Indonesia reported Tuesday.A downward revision in tariff values, from which import taxes arecalculated, has effectively lowered the import tax on CPO in India.Benny Tjoeng, vice president of Astra Agro Lestari, was quoted assaying the change will boost India's CPO consumption, as it will makethe commodity cheaper."The price of CPO in India (will decline) by $32 a ton" as a result ofthe move, he said.India has been the company's largest market for CPO, taking in around10,000 tons a month, Tjoeng said.However, he said the company has no plans to increase its exports toIndia, as it plans to keep domestic and export sales around the samelevel.Indonesia is the world's second largest CPO producer after Malaysia.The government has predicted production will reach 11 million tons thisyear, buoyed by a steady increase in plantation area to 4.6 millionhectares.According to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, or Gapki, Indonesiaproduced 9.9 million tons of CPO in 2003, while the Indonesian governmentputs the figure at 10.6 million tons.

New Delhi , Sept. 22 - THE confusion over what is the duty applicable onimported crude palm oil (CPO) consignments not meeting the minimum 500-mgper kg of total carotenoids specification, shows no signs of abatement.