Archived News

09 August 2001(Business Times) – MALAYSIA'S palm oil industry is set tobenefit from the worsening US soyabean crop harvest, which has resulted infavourable prices for the product for the next few months - at least.

KUANTAN ,8/8/2001(NSTP) - The authorities have approved replantingexercise on 18,998ha of oil palm smallholdings in the State, mostlybelonging to Felda settlers, next year.

KUCHING,Friday, August 10, 2001(The Star) -The Sarawak Land Consolidationand Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) will get RM138mil funding from thestate government to develop more oil palm estates under the EighthMalaysia Plan.Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said the approved allocationwould enable Salcra to plant another 12,000ha, including 5,500ha inSaribas estate in Sri Aman Division.Jabu, who is also Salcra chairman, said 11,128ha of oil palm estates hadbeen developed under the Kalaka-Saribas integrated agriculture developmentproject.More than 7,800ha were in Saratok, Roban South and Roban North estates inthe Kalaka district.Jabu recently officiated a consolidation project at Saribas estate aimedat improving its management.He said participants of oil palm schemes should not be unduly concernedwith the fluctuations in crude palm oil prices, assuring them thatinvestment in such schemes would bring them better returns.Crude palm oil prices have shot up to about RM1,300 per tonne from someRM700 per tonne months ago.Salcra recently paid out RM93mil in dividends to its scheme participants.

3/8/2001(Berita Harian : Ekonomi) - ECOMEX Palm Oil (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd(Ecomex), pengendali Bursa Minyak Sawit Elektronik (ePOM) iaitu sistemurus niaga minyak sawit elektronik pertama di dunia, menawarkan lebih 51peratus kepentingannya kepada peserta industri.

7/8/2001(Berita Harian : Ekonomi) - CUACA buruk yang melanda disebahagian negara dunia akan terus menjadi faktor asas yang kukuh bagimenyokong harga minyak sawit mentah (MSM) di pasaran tempatan untuk kekaldi paras melebihi RM1,200 satu tan metrik untuk tempoh terdekat ini.

Kuala Terengganu, 6/8/2001 (Berita Harian) - Syarikat Milik Kerajan Negerikerugian RM4 juta, apabila kilang Padang Kubu, Air Putih , Kemamanterbakar semalam. Bilik menempatkan beberapa mesin pemerah di kilangkelapa sawit TDM Plantation Bhd, yang terbakar jam 4 pagi. Ketika bombatiba di tempat kejadian 15 minit selapas menerima laporan, hampir 75peratus kilang terbakar. Laporan Kebakaran dibuat oleh pengurus kilangMohamad Azhar Yassin selepas diberitahu pengawal keselamatan. Siasatanlanjut untuk menentukan punca kebakaran sedang dijalankan.

8/8/2001(Business Times) - MALAYSIA's palm oil exports to Vietnam morethan doubled in the first half of the year, while those to Bangladesh grew63 per cent, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC).Council chief executive Datuk Haron Siraj said Vietnam imported 122,459tonnes between January and June, a 107 per cent increase on the 58,931tonnes it imported in the same period last year.Bangladesh imported 97,742 tonnes of palm oil, 63 per cent more thanpreviously, Haron said."The marked increase was partly due to MPOPC's efforts for the pastseveral years to promote palm oil. We will continue to do so in otherparts of the world," said Haron.Growing awareness of palm oil's numerous qualities and health benefits wasone reason for the two countries to increase their imports of the edibleoil, he said.Increasing private sector participation also boosted interest in palm oilin Bangladesh and Vietnam, where import activities had been previouslyundertaken by government agencies, Haron said yesterday.MPOPC began a five-day Palm Oil Trade Awareness Programme (Potapa)yesterday for delegates from 13 countries in Eastern Europe, Africa andCentral Asia.Haron said MPOPC will continue to spearhead marketing and promotionactivities in new and existing markets."We have already identified several countries which have enormouspotential for Malaysia's palm oil to grow," Haron said.He said Russia, for example, imported 2.043 million tonnes of edible oilslast year, out of which 120,000 tonnes were of Malaysian palm oil."Russia is a country of great promise to Malaysia's palm oil and I thinkwe can do something to increase our market share there," he said.He added the same promise holds for countries such as Hungary, Poland, theCzech Republic and Romania due to the growth of its margarine sector."The same potential can also be found in countries from the West Asia suchas the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia,Morocco, Jordan and others.These countries have annual imports of some 100,000 tonnes of palm oilfrom Malaysia for the past several years.Haron, however, said due to financial constraints MPOPC would look at thepossibility of establishing regional marketing centres or staging pointsto carry out marketing activities rather than on a country to countrybasis."For example, we will establish UAE as our staging point for the rest ofthe West Asia region and Iran for the rest of Central Asia," he said.He added MPOPC would also look at Africa to expand palm oil markets."Nigeria, for example, has a population of 120 million people and most ofthe palm oil products found in East Africa are from Malaysia," he said.Haron said Malaysia's palm oil already has a presence in almost 120countries worldwide which is two thirds of the 148 countries under theUnited Nations banner."It is all a matter of time before the world start to discover Malaysia'spalm oil because some countries are new to the commodity and some areaware but tied to some financial problems."Malaysia will now look at all options available to market palm oil. Wecannot sit idly by and wait for orders," he said."In the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) region itself,there is a market of 500 million people and we will go all out to promotethe commodity."No doubt, Indonesia will be a major competitor but competition is healthyand will spur Malaysians to work harder," he concluded.Malaysia is the world's largest producer of palm oil. It produced 10.8million tonnes last year out of which some 9.08 million tonnes wereexported generating sales worth some US$4 billion (US$1 = RM3.80).Indonesia is the world's second largest producer of palm oil producingsome 6.9 million tonnes last year out of which 4.2 million tonnes wereexported. MPOPC was formed in 1990 to develop and undertake promotionalprogrammes and marketing activities of Malaysia's palm oil sector.It groups together ministries, agencies and also associations from theprivate sector.

USA, 8/8/2001(Soyatech)

KUALA LUMPUR, Rabu 8/8/2001(Berita Harian) – Filipina hari ini mempelawausahawan Malaysia melabur dalam teknologi komunikasi dan maklumat (ICT),tenaga, prasarana serta pertanian terutama di selatan negara itu.

8/8/2001(Soyatech) - The price of vegetable oils is rising in the US dueto lower Asian output, tighter supplies and concern that the US crop willbe affected by adverse weather conditions.Spot prices for soybean, corn and cottonseed oil in Jul 2001 are at theirhighest level of the year so far.Stocks are said to be down.There will be increased demand for US exports of soybean oil in both Asiaand Europe.Trends in Indian and Chinese buying and other world trade are brieflyreviewed.The price of most animal fats and greases is also up.

NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Indian edible oil prices rose on Tuesdayafter the government decided to fix a base price on palm oil imports toprevent underinvoicing, traders said.India on Monday fixed the base import price of crude palm oil at $337 atonne, RBD palm olein at $372 a tonne and RBD palm oil at $351 a tonne.The government did not specify whether the base prices were C&F or FOB,but traders said they would be C&F rates."Domestic prices have corrected and changed in line with internationalprices," Rajnikant Rai, vice president (exports) of ITC Ltd, told Reuters.The prices of RBD palm olein in the domestic market rose to around 350rupees ($7.43) per 10 kg on Tuesday from 325 rupees last week.Earlier vegetable oil prices in India, the world's largest buyer, werequoted lower than the global rates as some importers were underinvoicingimports, traders said.Dealers said firmer prices were expected to continue till the rateswere at a par with international levels."We are still below the global level and in the next 15 days or so themarket will move to reach that level," said Sandeep Bajoria, president ofthe Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI).Traders said the price of RBD palm oelin would be close to 365 to 370rupees for a 10 kg pack after adding import tariffs.Palm olein currently carries an effective import duty of 92.4 percentwhile CPO has a 75 percent duty. Soybean oil has a lower customs levy of45 percent because of World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.In the first eight months of the year to October 2001, India's edibleoils imports rose to 2.97 million tonnes from 2.58 million in the year-agoperiod.On Tuesday, Malaysia's benchmark third-month October crude palm oil(CPO) futures contract broke the 1,300 ringgit ($342.11) per tonneresistance level and rose to a high of 1,308 ringgit, its highest levelsince October 11, 1999.Industry sources say slower palm output growth in Malaysia in thesecond half of 2001 and falling end-month stocks will help fuel prices.($1 = 47.10 rupees)($1 = 3.8 ringgit)

NEW DELHI, Aug. 4. (Soyatech via NewsEdge Corporation) In a bid to tacklerampant under-invoicing of prices by edible oil importers, the Governmenthas decided to fix 'tariff values' for assessing customs duty liability at$337 per tonne for crude palm oil, $351 per tonne for RBD palm oil and$372 per tonne for RBD palmolein. These rates, all of which correspond tofree-on-board (f.o.b.) levels (Malaysia), will be officially gazetted in aday or two, according to reliable sources.Fixation of the above tariff values, in effect, would mean that importerscannot declare an f.o.b. rate below these levels for the purpose ofpayment of customs duty.Adding an average freight cost of around $25 per tonne from Malaysia, thecost & freight value of the palm complex (on which the duty is imposed)would work out to roughly $360 per tonne for crude palm oil, $375 pertonne for RBD palm oil and $395 per tonne for RBD palmolein.The sources told Business Line that the tariff values have been determinedon the basis of the 'actual' international prices prevailing now.Currently, Malaysian futures contracts for August/September are trading at$338 per tonne for crude palm oil, $357.5 per tonne for RBD palm oil and$380 per tonne for RBD palmolein (all f.o.b).The decision to fix tariff values was taken in the context of the hugevolatility in international palm oil prices. Only a month ago, RBDpalmolein was being offered in Malaysia at $265 per tonne and crude palmoil at $225 per tonne.In other words, prices have soared by roughly $100 per tonne in hardly25-30 days. "In such a volatile scenario, the incentive forunder-invoicing is high and there is room for importers to cough up lowerduty by simply backdating their consignments," sources said.The increase in global palm oil prices is even more pronounced whencompared to the levels of February 2001, when these averaged a low of $188per tonne for crude palm oil and $204 per tonne for RBD palmolein.It is not clear whether the Government has determined similar tariffvalues for other oils too, particularly soyabean, sunflower andrapeseed-mustard (canola). But according to sources, there is no immediaterequirement to fix tariff values for these soft oils, considering thattheir imports are relatively less compared to the palm complex.During the current oil year from November 2000 to June 2001, the country'stotal edible oil imports amounted to 29.71 lakh tonnes (l.t.), of whichthe palm complex accounted for 20.62 l.t., i.e. over 69 per cent.Moreover, prices of soft oils have not firmed up to the extent as that ofpalm oil. The difference between the landed price of crude degummed soyaoil and crude palm oil has fallen from around $100 per tonne in Februaryto less than $70 per tonne now.The fixation of 'reasonable' tariff values may also give the Government anopportunity to reduce the basic customs duty on crude palm oil from theexisting 75 per cent, as per the 'commitment' given to Malaysia followingthe Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to that country inMay.A 75 per cent duty on crude palm oil at the proposed tariff value ofaround $360 per tonne (c&f) would translate into a domestic price ofnearly Rs 30 per kg.A 10 per cent duty reduction would bring this down to about Rs 28 per kg,which is not expected to cause any major problems for the domestic solventextraction industry, which has been vociferous in its complaints ofunder-invoicing by importers.