Archived News

THURS, 31 January, 2002 (Business Times) - IOI CORPORATION Bhd, alreadyone of the most cost-efficient plantation companies, plans torevolutionalise the oil palm industry by raising its palm oil yields by atleast 50 per cent.

KUALA LUMPUR, Wed. 30 January, 2002 ( Business Times) - Many oil palmsmallholders are having second thoughts about taking part in a governmentscheme in which they are paid to have their ageing palms felled.

Kuala Lumpur 30 January, 2002 (Business Times) - THE ongoing flap overreducing the number of Indonesian workers appears to be a storm in ateacup, going by the share price movements of plantation companies whichare among the largest employers of these workers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 28 (Dow Jones) - Malaysia wants to supply a big chunkof the 2.4 million metric tons of palm oil China plans to import thisyear, Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik was quoted by the Bernamanews agency as saying Monday.As part of its obligations under the World Trade Organization, China hasagreed to allow the import of 2.4 million tons of palm oil this year, butthe agencies that will import the palm oil or the individual quotas foreach one of them are yet to be announced.The Bernama report, however, noted that out of the total quota, 1.4million tons have been given to individual importers, 800,000 tons tostate-owned enterprises and 200,000 tons set aside for countertrade.Malaysia has already proposed to award railway construction work toChinese companies and pay for the work in palm oil.When contacted, a source close to the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Councilsaid Chinese authorities are expected to issue the quotas before the LunarNew Year next week, but no announcement has been made yet.

Thursday, January 24, 2002 (The Star) - MORE Malaysian oil palm plantationcompanies are expected to invest aggressively abroad, once the outcome ofearlier investments by at least 40 local companies in Indonesia, SolomonIslands and Papua New Guinea begin to bear fruit.Affin-UOB Securities Sdn Bhd said in its January 2002 Investment Reviewreport that the continued expansion by palm oil producers would beencouraged by oil palm crops having a much higher yield per ha than otherseed oils and the commodity’s relatively cheaper production costs comparedwith other vegetable oils.The world demand for palm oil is expected to increase from the present 20million tonnes per year to 40 million in 2020.Affin-UOB Securities said a large portion of the demand would continue tocome from Indonesia, India, China, Pakistan and Malaysia.As demand grows, Oil World projects palm oil would become the leadingedible oil in 2012.“If this demand is to be met, 300,000ha of new planting is required yearlyover the next 20 years,’’ Affin-UOB Securities said, adding that amajority of new land is expected to come from within Indonesia wherelabour and land are plentiful.In Malaysia, the land availability particularly in peninsular Malaysia isvirtually approaching saturation point with new plantings mostly inSarawak and Sabah.

Kuala Lumpur, 29 January, 2002 - MALAYSIA’S crude palm oil (CPO) exportsto India are set to gain up to 500,000 tonnes in view of a possible moveby the latter to restrict imports of soyabean oil.Traders said under the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) ruling, Indian importersmay opt to buy either Malaysia’s or Indonesia’s palm oil to offsetsoyabean imports that will be affected by the ruling.“However, that chunk may also go to Malaysia’s rival Indonesia but due toIndia’s preference on refined oil, Malaysia will have the upperhand,” atrader told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.“Coupled with fantastic exports to China in view of the Lunar New Year,CPO prices are not expected to dip below the RM1,200 a tonne level,” saidthe trader.Last week, Reuters had reported that New Delhi was considering imposingduties of 75 per cent, up from the current 45 per cent, on soyabeanimports in excess of 500,000 tonnes.The proposal is set to be announced officially by its Finance Ministryduring the Indian Budget slated on February 28.The subcontinent last year imported 1.5 million tonnes of both soyabeanand soyabean oil from countries such as Argentina and Brazil.India, Malaysia’s biggest CPO buyer, currently slaps a 65 per cent duty onMalaysia’s CPO after reducing it from 75 per cent in November last year.Under the TRQ, a particular quantity of edible oil can be imported on aparticular tariff with another set of tariff rates for the subsequentamount.Under the plan, India will slap a 45 per cent duty on the first 500,000tonnes of soyabean oil bought from outside followed by a 75 per cent dutyfor the following amount.The TRQ is not new because India had enforced a similar ruling forsunflower seed and rapeseed, whose exports were restricted to 150,000tonnes each year.China, Malaysia’s third biggest buyer of palm oil last year, alsopractises the TRQ system.The reasons behind the ruling is not clear but traders said it isobviously a move made by the subcontinent to boost its domestic edible oilsector such as cotton oil and mustard oil.“The ruling will also protect local farmers and reduce dependency onoutside supplies,” said a trader.He added that with the new ruling the discriminatory discount of aroundUS$80 (US$1 = RM3.80) can be narrowed down to between US$30 and US$40 inthe near future.India is Malaysia’s biggest palm oil customer buying 2.03 million tonneslast year and 2000. It bought 2.38 million tonnes in 1999.Malaysia is the world’s biggest producer of CPO producing 8.32 milliontonnes in 1986 valued at RM9.4 billion.In 2000, Malaysia produced 10.38 million tonnes and exported at about 140countries worldwide valued at RM12.47 billion.According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia produced 11.803million tonnes last year of which, 10.59 million tonnes were exported.

JAKARTA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Indonesia expects to supply 720,000 tonnes ofpalm oil to China this year, or 30 percent of the big buyer's importquota, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) said onTuesday.GAPKI chairman Derom Bangun said China would raise its palm oil importquotas to 2.4 million tonnes in 2002 from 1.4 million tonnes last year,following its entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO)."China is set to issue 2.4 million tonnes in quotas this year and weexpect to take the opportunity of supplying 720,000 tonnes," Bangun toldReuters by telephone from Medan, capital of the palm oil growing area ofNorth Sumatra province.Indonesia is the world's second largest palm oil producer afterMalaysia.Bangun said Indonesia's palm oil exports to China were seen at 450,000tonnes in 2001, some 30-35 percent of China's imports of 1.4 milliontonnes for that year.China imposes quotas on edible oil to limit imports."Rising quotas from China is forecast to boost the prices of palm oil,especially CPO, in the international market," Bangun said.Indonesia's Crude Palm Oil (CPO) was traded at $330 a tonne CIF Rotterdamfor January shipment on Monday. More than 80 percent of Indonesia's palmoil exports are in the form of CPO.Malaysia supplied around 60 percent of China's quotas last year, Bangunadded."This year, they will still control the Chinese market," Bangun said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Reuters) - An Iraqi state firm has contracted to buynearly 100,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia for delivery in the nextsix months -- the country's first large purchase since the end of the GulfWar, an industry source said on Tuesday."This is the first time a Malaysian company gets an order to supplysuch large quantity to Iraq," said the source from a leading Malaysianfirm which gets the contract."Iraq used to buy sunflower oil and corn oil in large quantities, butwith prices of both oils going up due to less and less availability, palmoil products have become the obvious choice," said the source.The contract shown to Reuters said the palm oil should be of Malaysianorigin and consisted of 87,758 tonnes of RBD palm oil, 9,680 tonnes of RBDpalm stearin and 2,026 tonnes of palm kernel oil which should be shippedin a six-month period.Iraq was expected to buy some 200,000 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysiain 2002 because the country's cooking oil manufacturing sector had resumedactivity, said the source.Iraqi embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur declined comment.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- JustCommodity Pte Ltd, the only softwaresolutions company that is set up to support the information technology(IT) needs for commodity sector, will start its business on a small scalein Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

18 January, 2002 (Oil World-Weekly)

Jan. 22 (Oil World) - Palm oil futures in Malaysia rallied today andclosed at 1237 Ringgit per tonne for April, up 29 from yesterday. A pickupin export demand in the second half of January and declining Malaysianpalm oil production and stocks contributed to the firmness in the market.Pakistan has considerably increased palm oil imports in recent months dueto rising demand. (More details will follow tomorrow.) China is likely tobecome a more active buyer of palm oil and probably also of other oils andfats in the next few weeks. Chinese stocks declined recently and higherimports are needed to satisfy demand. It is expected that the governmentwill announce a higher import quota for palm oil soon. We currentlyestimate total Malaysian palm oil stocks at 870 Thd T as of end-March 2002(down sharply from 1251 Thd T a year ago), compared with 1.21 Mn T as ofend-December 2001 (against 1.42 a year ago).

SANDAKAN, Malaysia, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures areexpected to hold around 1,200 ringgit ($315.78) in the first half of 2002on increased imports by China and flat output in Malaysia, a leadingindustry official said on Tuesday."I can foresee, the price for the first half should easily stay ataround 1,200 ringgit/tonne (third-month basis)," Emerson Liau Yong Hwa,chairman of the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) told Reuters inSandakan, a thriving commodities trading town in the eastern state ofSabah on Borneo.Sabah is Malaysia's largest palm oil growing area, accounting for morethan 30 percent of production in the world's biggest producer.On the futures market on Tuesday the third-month April contract was1,237 ringgit, up 29 ringgit.Liau said China was expected to increase palm oil imports to 2.4million tonnes in 2002, up from 1.4 million last year, following its entryto the World Trade Organisation (WTO).A slowdown in global rapeseed and sunseed production, which wouldencourage buyers to turn to palm oil, was also supportive.Liau said he expected prices to remain around 1,200 ringgit during thesecond half of 2002 due to expectationa of stronger demand from China andIndia -- Malaysia's main buyers -- and also a slowdown in localproduction.Industry sources in Sabah said Malaysia's crude palm oil production wasseen around 11 million tonnes in 2001, down from 11.4 million in 2000.This year's output was expected to be flat at around 11 million tonnes,they said.