Archived News

05/06/2002 (Asia Intelligence Wire) - Since China placed bean oil onto itsproposed list to retaliate against the tariff imposed by the United Stateson China's steel imports, the country has learned to master the techniqueof protecting its own interests under the framework of the World TradeOrganization (WTO), analysts said."While showing a warning to the Bush administration, the selection of beanoil as a retaliative item can give domestic farmers and producers morebreathing room before the impact of the US imports of soybean and beanoil,"said Wang Zihui, an analyst with Beijing-based newspaper ChinaBusiness.Wang's comments came after China submitted a list of US production whichit intends to suspend promised tariff reductions in line with its WTOcommitments. Imports of waste paper, bean oil and electric compressorsfrom the US will be subject to 24 percent tariffs, after the WTO disputesettlement body gives its final jurisdiction against the US tariffs andwill be valid until 2005.The measure was declared two months after US President George W Bushslapped tariffs ranging from 8 to 30 percent on steel imports fromcountries like Japan, the European Union (EU), and China. It also came oneweek after Bush signed a farm bill guaranteeing US$190 billion subsidiesto US farmers over the next 10 years.Compared with the proposed suspension list that would cause total dutiesof US$94 million for US produce, China's reaction on the US farm bill wasquite reserved. On June 4, a joint statement from the Ministry of ForeignTrade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) and the Ministry of Agricultureindicated that the US bill distorted international farm trade, and Chinawould reserve the right to take further action."China's restrictive attitude is quite understandable, because so far itis unclear how much the new farm bill will impact our farmers,"said LuFeng, an agricultural economist with Peking University.According to Lu, there are certain procedures before the bill -- which hebelieves is against the free trade principle -- would play an effectiverole in lowering US farm costs, and major grain exporters such as Canada,Australia and EU look set to suffer the most from the bill.On the issue, China could further watch the concrete reaction of thesecountries, the professor suggested.Larry M Senger, minister-counsellor for the US Embassy to China in chargeof agricultural affairs, contended the subsidy level of the 2002agricultural bill saying it is in line with WTO requirements and is stilllower than the EU's level."It could help Chinese people have easier access to high-quality USfarming products,"Senger said.On the other hand, the country's proposed punitive tariff on the US beanoil could become a powerful weapon to fight back against the risingprotectionism policy of the Bush administration, which appears to be aimedat gaining more votes from US farmers and steel workers for theRepublican.The US agriculture-heavy states that benefited the most from the farm billare traditional supporters of the Democratic. The expected loss fromsoybean growers resulting from China's proposed tariff on bean oilthreatens to weaken the effect of the measure.In fact, the list ranked by China echoes those of the EU and Japan, whichall include agricultural products.While the amount of the tariff China proposed to levy was not very high,it sent a signal that the punishment could be extended to soybean or otherproducts, said Wang of China Business.For domestic soybean growers and bean oil producers, the list has broughtgood news. In the past week, prices for soybean futures in the Zhengzhougrain future exchange has seen a continuous growth.In recent years, China's annual imports of US soybean have reached 1.5million tons, equal to the amount of domestic output. The heavy import hasseriously impacted the domestic market and has caused heavy loss tosoybean growers in China.In March, a regulation on genetically modified organisms (GMO) whichrequires a 270-day inspection period for imported GMO, has stalled therising import of US soybean, 70 percent of which are GMO. Since March, noshipment of imported soybean has docked in Chinese ports, according toChina Business.Reduced soybean imports and the proposed duties on bean oil could greatlystimulate the demand of domestic oil production, increasing the income ofgrowers, China Business quoted Tang Yanli, a senior analyst with theMinistry of Agriculture's Information Center, as saying.Tang predicted the hiking soybean price would end in late June, whensoybean imports resume.After all, domestic growers have harvested the current good market.For the long-term benefit of Chinese growers, the government would have tosignificantly increase its subsidies for domestic farmers, said Niu Li, aneconomist with the State Information Center."Although the import quota system would help reduce the US farm subsidy'simpact on domestic farmers, the bill also urges us to significantlyincrease our own subsidies,"said Niu.According to China's commitments to the WTO, by 2004, the country wouldoffer import quotas of up to 5 percent of its grain outputs, which ensuresthe demand for imported agricultural produce does not fluctuate greatly.At present, China's subsidies for farmers are 2 percent, while the countryhas promised the WTO they would not surpass 8.5 percent."Our subsidies only cost US$10 billion a year while the US would giveUS$190 billion to its farmers, which offers an excuse for us tosignificantly increase our subsidy level in the framework of the WTO,"saidLong Yongtu, vice-minister of MOFTEC, last week.

Saturday, June 8, 2002 (The Star) - AFTER hitting a three-year high ofRM1,510 per tonne on Thursday before easing back to RM1,500 yesterday,crude palm oil (CPO) prices will be closely watched next week as a furthersurge will likely prompt renewed buying interest in pure plantation stockswhich hold the potential to trigger a new rally on the KLSE.Market players said genuine buying interest in plantation stocks wouldsoon emerge as industry players were gradually becoming more confident ofa continued strengthening of the CPO price; backed by strong fundamentals,depleting stocks and production, as well as an encouraging export outlook.Late last month, despite the price of CPO breaching the RM1,300 per tonnelevel after plunging to RM673 in June last year, market players were stillreluctant to pick up attractive plantation stocks on the KLSE because theywere unconvinced that the CPO price was trending upwards.

(Correction on figures - 1,50,000 tonnes, 3,00,000 tonnes & 6,00,000tonnes should read as 150,000 tonnes, 300,000 tonnes & 600,000 tonnes)

ROME, June 10 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan onMonday urged wealthy nations not to subsidise their agriculture, sayingsuch protection prevented poor countries from competing in agriculturalmarkets.Asked whether rich nations should drop protection of their agriculturethrough subsidies, Annan told Reuters in an interview: "Absolutely. Wecannot talk of free trade and truly open markets if we are going to dothat."Speaking on the sidelines of a World Food Summit, he added: "What's thepoint of helping dairy farms in the developing country and then sellingsubsidised powdered milk to their economy which makes it difficult forthem to continue their production."The United Nations estimates that wealthy nations spend some $300 billiona year on farm subsidies and says the money depresses world commodityprices making it impossible for third world farmers to compete in globalmarkets."You put yourself in the shoes of a small developing country, which cannotexport agricultural products because of restrictions and tariffs, adeveloping country that cannot export and compete on world markets becauseits richer partners are heavily subsidised," Annan said.The remarks were his strongest comments yet on the issue. In the past theUnited Nations has limited itself to saying that protection by rich statesof their agriculture created an uneven playing field.In his opening remarks to the summit earlier, Annan said the dumping ofagricultural produce by rich countries on developing countries' marketscould discourage poor farmers from producing and lead to unemployment andlost incomes."We must evaluate carefully the impact of the subsidies that are now givento producers in rich countries," Annan told delegates at the start of thefour day meeting."By lowering food prices in the poorest countries, they may help toalleviate hunger in some cases and in the short term," he said. "Butdumping surpluses can also have devastating long term effects -- rangingfrom disincentives for national production and unemployment -- whilemaking it impossible for developing countries to compete on worldmarkets."Against a backdrop of looming famine in southern Africa, Annan made a callto halt "the gnawing pain of hunger"."In a world of plenty, ending hunger is within our grasp. Failure to reachthis goal should fill every one of us with shame. The time for makingpromises is over. It is time to act," he said, adding: "According to someestimates, as many as 24,000 people die every day, as a result (ofhunger)."Delegates approved a declaration dubbed the "International AllianceAgainst Hunger", renewing a pledge made at a previous food summit in 1996to cut the number of hungry to 400 million people from more than 800million.The summit, organised by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),runs until Thursday.

HAMBURG, June 4 (Reuters) - Global 2001/02 season production of the mainedible oils will not cover demand and stocks will need to be drawn down,Hamburg-based newsletter Oil World said.In its latest global supply and demand forecast, it said world productionof the seven seed oils plus palm oil is estimated to rise by only 1.9million tonnes or 2.1 percent on the season to 90.3 million tonnes."This is insufficient to cover demand," it said. "We estimate the growthin world consumption to slow down but still to rise by 3.5 million tonnesor 4.0 percent to 91.4 million tonnes.""This will require a considerable reduction of stocks and justifies theprice rally we have seen in May," it said.The newsletter sees large near-term edible oil import demand coming fromIndia and China.It added: "Large soyoil supplies in the U.S., Argentina and Brazil will beabsorbed rapidly in coming months."A major reason for tight supplies is insufficient palm oil output. This isestimated at 23.83 million tonnes up against 23.49 million tonnes lastseason.But global palm oil consumption is estimated to reach 24.40 million tonnesagainst 23.25 million tonnes last season. Inadequate palm oil output isset to keep global demand for soyoil strong up to September 2002, thenewsletter said.This will help generate sharp rises in soyoil output by the U.S.,Argentina and Brazil.

NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) - India has abundant stocks of key commoditiesand fears of a war between India and Pakistan have neither triggered panicbuying nor significantly harmed trade, officials and traders said onThursday.But they said grain exports had been hampered by the military using railwagons and due to port bottlenecks, while border tension had cut smugglingof sugar from India to Pakistan.Otherwise, edible oil imports to India, the world's largest buyer of theitem, had grown in recent weeks due to seasonal factors and gold dealerssaid demand for the precious metal was down as a result of highinternational prices.India and Pakistan have massed a million troops, backed by armour andartillery, along their borders in the dispute over Kashmir. India saysPakistan must end incursions by Muslim guerrillas that have stoked a12-year rebellion in Hindu-dominated India's only Muslim-majority state."We have more than adequate supplies of wheat, rice and sugar...there isno panic buying," an Indian Food Ministry spokeswoman told Reuters.She said that as of May 1, India had 62.5 million tonnes of wheat and ricestocks, well above the 24.3 million tonnes of grains which governmentprojections said would be needed as reserves on July 1. India also hassugar stocks of nearly 10 million tonnes.Tanvir Qureshi, vice-president of a supermarket chain owned by tradinghouse Adani Exports Ltd in the border state of Gujarat, said the firm hadnot seen any panic buying."It's normal business. We have not seen any panic buying or stocking up,"she told Reuters.There was no unusual stockpiling of foodstuffs even in the border city ofJammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state which is at thecentre of the confrontation and in range of Pakistan's guns."People have become accustomed to all these things (border firing) thatthey take everything lightly...," said local resident Gyan Chand, owner ofa public telephone call office in Jammu.

JAKARTA, June 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia said on Monday it had found tracesof hydrocarbon in one of its crude palm kernal oil (CPKO) cargoes sent toEurope last month but dismissed market talk there was any dieselcontamination.Rumours have swirled in Malaysia's palm oil market that several cargoeshad been contaminated by diesel oil, reminiscent of the 1999 scandal thattarnished the image of Indonesia, the world's second largest grower andexporter after Malaysia."There was a higher hydrocarbon level in one or two tanks but it wasn'tsignificant although it is a warning for local palm oil producers to bemore careful in handling exports," Derom Bangun, chairman of theIndonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI), told Reuters."No, it is not tainted by diesel oil, and we haven't received anycomplaints from buyers," he added but did not say how the traces ofhydrocarbon may have got into the cargoes.In 1999, some 85,000 tonnes of diesel-tainted crude palm oil (CPO) werefound to have been shipped from Belawan port in Sumatra to Rotterdam.Indonesia said last year it was working hard to convince buyers such anincident would never happen again.Trade sources said Indonesia produced some 8.2 million tonnes of palm oilin 2001, with some 60 percent being exported. The largest exportdestinations are the European Union, India and China.

Monday, June 3, 2002 (The Star) - PRICES of world commodities haverecovered since the beginning of the year after the downtrend last year.The star performer is cocoa. Precious metals, particularly gold, are alsooutstanding in terms of price performance.Among the other commodities are crude oil, crude palm oil (CPO), rubberand soyabean which have achieved growth rates of between 10% and 30% thisyear.Forecast of a shortfall in global supply for the second successive yearhas helped sustain the strong rally on cocoa prices.Cocoa prices have propelled to a 15-year high of £1,304 per tonne lastweek, before retreating to £1,298 per tonne last Friday. It has soared 31%or £307 since Jan 2.Cocoa prices started to head upward from November last year due to dryweather in production countries, namely Ghana and Ivory Coast, which haddisrupted cocoa production.Dealers said the uptrend might continue.“Many chocolate manufacturers are far from sufficiently covered, and arerunning to catch up with the soaring cocoa price,’’ said a dealer.The recent “gold rush” among investment fund managers to seek safe havensamid uncertainties on the world political scene has pushed the price ofgold up to US$326 per ounce last Friday – the highest level since October1997.Platinum prices also rose to a peak of US$554 per ounce in April. Theprice of platinum finished the week at US$542 last Friday.In addition to factors such as tension at the India-Pakistan border andthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the weakening US dollar has also boostedthe price of gold.The fall in the greenback against other currencies will mean a rise ingold price, which is quoted in US dollars. The US dollar slumped to asix-month low of 123.24 against the yen last Thursday before ending theweek at 124.09 last Friday.The low interest rate environment that has resulted in ample liquidity andthe perceived higher risk on equities has also benefited gold prices asthe opportunity cost for the precious metal becomes lower.Crude oil prices are also faring well. The Brent oil price had reboundedfrom the year’s low of US$18.17 per barrel on Jan 18 to a high of US$27.12per barrel on May 14. It was last traded at US$23.89 per barrel lastFriday.Tapis oil has rebounded to US$24.80 per barrel last Friday from US$19.90per barrel. It reached a height of US$27.25 on May 14.The commodity has regained lost ground against the backdrop of risingoptimism on the global economy, which will raise the demand for oil sincelate January.Meanwhile, the conflict in the Middle East, which pumps up one-third ofthe world oil supply, has lifted crude oil prices in April and the firsthalf of last month.Crude oil prices eased off in the past two weeks as worries of supplydisruption, due to war, eased. On top of that was the higher-than-expectedoil inventory in the US.Oil prices slumped below US$18 per barrel after the terrorist attacks onthe US last September. There were fears of a lower demand for oil.Crude palm oil (CPO) prices have also staged an impressive run up. CPOprices surged to their three-year high of RM1,426 per tonne last Fridayand has gained RM273 or 24% since the beginning of the year.Oil World has forecast a 600,000-tonne fall in oil stocks for the periodbetween January and September.This would reduce the world’s stocks to a two-year low of 3.26 milliontonnes by end-September compared with 3.81 million tonnes last year and3.71 million tonnes two years ago.China’s intention to impose a 24% import duty on soya bean oil has alsospurred the uptrend on CPO prices because the higher duty is likely toprompt the Chinese to substitute cheaper palm oil for soya oil.Traders see the possibility of the CPO price testing the RM1,500 per tonnelevel in tandem with the strengthening soya bean prices.“The soya oil prices are likely to remain firm as China has not receivedenough quantities of soya oil and the expectation of a wet weather in theUS will affect production,’’ said a dealer.(The informations and opinions expressed in this article represent theviews of the author only. They should not be seen as necessarilyreflecting the views of Palm News)

5/31/2002 (Asia Intelligence Wire) - A gas station selling bio-diesel,fuel famous for its environmentally- friendly nature, will debut as earlyas next month in Korea, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energyannounced yesterday.Bio-diesel is a combination of diesel fuel (20 percent) and an alternativefuel (80 percent) produced from the reaction between natural vegetableproducts ingredients like rice, vegetable oil, soybean oil and alcohol.The ministry passed a bill on May 25 allowing the testing of bio- diesel(BD20) fuel. According to the bill, a district can be designated as a testregion at the request of the Minister of Environment and the heads of acity.The testing will begin in the landfill areas within the metropolitandistricts with the fuel used for cleaning and garbage disposal vehicles.The initial testing period is through May 24, 2004.The first company to request a permit to sell the alternative fuel was LGCaltex and the ministry is currently evaluating the firm's proposal, itsaid. If permitted, LG will set up the bio-diesel gas station inDanha-dong in Incheon city."A bio-diesel gas station must be equipped with a specifically designedstorage tank and gas pump. We haven't yet decided on the price of BD20,but it will be cheaper than the regular diesel fuel,"a ministry officialsaid.

JOHOR BAHARU, May 24 (Bernama) -- The Palm Kernel based Oleochemicalsub-sector needs to be developed and expanded to give added value to thepalm oil industry and enhance its comptitiveness, Johor Menteri BesarDatuk Abdul Ghani Othman said today.He said the palm loil based sub-sector was one of the industries with bigpotential in Malaysia and particularly in Johor which was the biggestproducer of palm oil in the country."In the area of palm oil production, Malaysia is facing tough competitionfrom other producer nations particularly from the aspect of productioncost,"he said when opening the Palm Oil Carnival organised by theMalaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC) here.He said with advances in palm oil technology, development and research,Malaysia could emerge as the foremost nation in the field of oleochemicalwhich had many advantages compared to other vegetable oils.Some 640,000 hectares in Johor were planted with oil palm and thisrepresented about 18 per cent of the total area under oil palm inMalaysia, he said.The Menteri Besari said the development of the oleochemical sub sectorwould bring immense benefits to settlers and smallholders in Johor.Speaking to the press after the opening, Abdul Ghani said the MPOPC andother related government agencies should intensify the campaign to promotepalm oil from the health aspect among consumers.Accurate information could drown the claims made by anti-palm oillobbyists campaigning for other vegetable oils, he added.The carnival at Plaza City Square, which ends on Sunday, is aimed atenlightening consumers including Singaporeans on the benefits of palm oil.

5/22/2002 (Soyatech) - Boustead Holdings Bhd plans to sell the plantationinformation management system (PIMS) it has developed with ComputerSystems Advisers (M) Bhd (CSA) in South-East Asia by next year.According to Boustead manufacturing and corporate planning director KooHock Fee, both companies have started marketing the PIMS in severalforeign markets.He said that the system helped plantation companies to achieve betterreturns on investment, increase productivity and enabled fastertime-to-market."There is huge potential for PIMS in countries such as Thailand, thePhilippines, Burma and Papua New Guinea. However, we plan to focus onMalaysia and Indonesia this year, Koo said."Probably, next year, we will start to seriously look at the other exportmarkets," he said.Koo told a press conference this after a seminar on Smart Links toPlantation Management in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The seminar was followedby the launch of PIMS.According to CSA managing director Chuah Tai Eu, the PIMS was developedbased on the combined plantation management systems already own by CSA andBousteadís wholly-owned subsi-diary Boustead Information Technology SdnBhd."The PIMS combines the software development expertise of CSA with theplantation industry expertise of Boustead," he said.Chuah said that CSAís older system, the plantation management informationsystem (PMIS), was launched in 1985.He said that Boustead introduced its plantation management system (PMS),which was now being used by 100 of its estates, about 20 years ago.Chuah said that CSA and Boustead had each contributed about RM1mil tointegrate the 2 systems into the PIMS."So far, we have installed and successfully tested PIMS at 2 estates, with13 more estates in the process of installation," he said."With improving crude palm oil prices and anticipated higher overseasdemand, plantation companies can expect an encouraging but challengingyear ahead. This is the most opportune time for us to introduce a new andenhanced system that catalyses the forward momentum of the plantationindustry," Chuah said.Koo said Boustead planned to install PIMS, which was developed on thelatest Microsoft technology, at its 400 estates in Malaysia and Indonesiasoon. Chuah said CSA's older system PMIS had been installed at about 50estates nationwide."We expect all these estates to upgrade to the PIMS," he said.

5/22/2002 (Soyatech)- Abstract: An adjuvant containing: (a) amonoglyceride; and (b) a component selected from the group consisting ofnonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, alkylesters, phytobland mineral oils, water soluble silicone surfactants, fattyacid dialkyl ethers, fatty acid dialkyl carbonates, vegetable oils, andmixtures thereof.Ex Claim Text: A pesticide composition comprising: (a) from about 1 toabout 99% by weight, based on the weight of the composition, of anadjuvant containing: (i) a coconut monoglyceride sulfate; and (ii) acomponent selected from the group consisting of nonionic surfactants,anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, allyl esters, phytoblandmineral oils, water soluble silicone surfactants, fatty acid dialkylethers, fatty acid dialkyl carbonates, vegetable oils, and mixturesthereof; and (b) a biologically active ingredient used for treating plantsand plant pests.