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ANALYSTS continue to be bullish on the outlook of the plantation sectordespite the lower-than-expected earnings registered by some of the biggestplantation companies in the country.

GOOD palm oil prices of late may hamper the Government's plan to replantthe country's oil palm plantations.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- Palm oil went online recently withe-Pomex, and now it is the rubber industry's turn to catch up with theelectronic world with a Malaysian-based rubber portal, "NRExchange.com."The portal will pave the way for the commodity to go for a globalmarketplace.

The Transport Ministry wants the northern and southern electrifieddouble-track railway projects to be expedited by as much as half theoriginal timeframe, so as to boost local economic activity.Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said project consultants have beenasked to see if the projects could be completed in three years instead ofsix.They are also to see if work on both the northern and southern lines canbegin simultaneously.The northern double-tracking project is from Ipoh to Padang Besar(338.8km). The southern line is from Seremban to Johor Baru (297km).A start date has not been determined as the proposal needed fine-tuning.Instead of waiting for the consultants to finalise their proposal, Dr Lingsaid contractors should join the planning now so work could begin soonest."Let everyone be a part of the preliminary work...so we can shorten thepreparatory phase. There is no need for the ministry to review theconsultant's report and then only give it to the contractors."Dr Ling was speaking at a Press conference at his ministry here.He said under review were certain parts of the track that neededre-alignment as existing lines were too curved. Sharp curves would preventthe electric trains from running at their high speeds of 160 to 180kilometers per hour, he said.Re-alignments would pose problems to about 10 per cent of areas affectedby the project."Some people and homes might be displaced but they are only in a fewplaces."He named Bukit Berapit in between Taiping and Kuala Kangsar, Bagan Seraiand Tanjung Rambutan on the northern line, and Tampin on the southernline.More than 50 overhead road bridges would also be built so motorizedtraffic would not be disrupted by the trains.The Indian Railway Construction Company will build infrastructure for thenorthern line. The southern line has been awarded to the China RailwayEngineering Corporation.Each project is estimated to cost RM6 billion, according to past reports.Payment would include a barter trade in palm oil.Japan's Mitsui Corporation will provide the systems, such astelecommunication and signaling."The sooner the project starts, the better for the economy, he said,adding that even oil palm smallholders would benefit when India and Chinastarted buying oil palm."Double-tracking can increase the number of train services a day by fivetimes, compared to a single track.DRB-Hicom and Mitsui are undertaking the central project which runs fromRawang to Ipoh, worth RM4.2 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 (Bernama) - Polyurethanes (PU), which make good heatinsulators, are very popular in temperate countries because they help saveenergy.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futuresreturned to positive territory in a chart-inspired rally on Friday andhopes that India may be coming back to the market to stock up. Thebenchmark third-month November contract was 11 ringgit higher at 1,109ringgit ($291.84) a tonne after trading as high as 1,112. Volume was thinat 436 lots. November contract ended down 23 ringgit at 1,098 ringgit($288.95) at the close on Thursday. "India still hesitates to buy palm oilbecause its local edible oil crop is coming in in October. But who knowswhether the crop is sufficient to meet demand," said one trader in KualaLumpur. "I guess, India will be buying palm oil anytime soon," he added.Some other traders said India, the world's largest edible oil importer,would come to the market next month ahead of the Diwali Hindu festival oflights in November. One technical analyst pegged major support at 1,076ringgit. Immediate resistance was quoted at 1,120 ringgit. "If the marketcan hold the support level in the next five days, we could see (a further)technical rebound," said the analyst.

EMIRA-KUOK Fertilisers Sdn Bhd (KKF), a joint-venture company between theKuok group and Finland’s Kemira Agro, has officially introduced a newfertiliser compound called the Hi-Kay Plus.The company said that the compound was capable of improving oil palmyields by up to 15%.At a presentation held during the International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC)2001 in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, company officials said the Hi-Kay Plus wasa more cost-effective alternative compared with traditional compounds asgrowers would benefit from a lower fertilising cost per year.“At most three rounds of applications will be required compared with otherfertilisers that require six to 10 rounds,’’ a company official said.According to him, this will result in savings on labour and supervisioncosts while at the same time improving field management and productivity.He said that while the cost per hectare using the product would be 3% to5% higher than using the existing fertilising methods, an increased yieldwould off-set the higher cost incurred.“A 1% increase in yield will more than cover any cost differentialsagainst applying straights,’’ the official said.Since its soft launch in July this year, the Hi-Kay Plus has attractedencouraging response from both smallholders and plantation managers.Apart from the local market, KKF is also exporting its products toregional plantations in South-East Asia.

THREE Malaysian companies have been identified as partners forlead-contractor China Railway Engineering Corp to undertake the RM6billion project to double-track the rail-link between Seremban and JohorBaru.

MALAYSIAN Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) e-registration system, which went “live”early this month, has captured about 30% of the total daily tradecontracts registered with the board.An electronic submission platform which incorporates a standardisedweb-based form, e-registration enables MPOB licensees to register theirdaily contracts online, a practice stipulated under Section 78(g) of theMPOB Act 1998.“Under the Palm Oil Industry (Registration of Contracts) Regulations ofMPOB, the licensees used to send in their contracts by telex, facsimile,e-mail or telephone,’’ said R Venugopal, director of the Economics andIndustry Development Division, MPOB.“With e-registration, they can register their contracts simply bytransferring the information from their databases to our system and withthe templates available, this can be done faster and more accurately,’’ hetold Star Business in an interview at the 2001 International Palm OilCongress in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.Venugopal is one of three contributors to the e-registration In the PalmOil Trade paper, presented by Jamil Nordin, also from MPOB, at thecongress.Venugopal said the implementation of the system was timely as itencompassed error-detection measures and other innovations to ensure fastand accurate registration of contracts, was more economical and helpedbridge the gap between other forms of contract registration.A key feature of the system, he added, was the derivation of the daily(and monthly) MPOB average palm oil prices used by traders as a benchmarkwhile the monthly prices are used as a basis for price settlement forlong-term supply contracts, for pricing fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and bythe government for formulating industry policies.Thursday, August 23, 2001The Star

COMMERCIALISATION of genetically-modified (GM) palm oil will depend verymuch on customer acceptance, said Dr Cheah Suan Choo, a researcher fromthe Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).This is due to the fact that palm oil is still a 100% natural product andgenetically-modified organism-free (GMO-free) a selling point in marketingthe commodity.However, further research on GM palm oil was necessary to ensure thefuture competitiveness of the Malaysian palm oil industry, she said in apaper, Current Issues in the Genetic Modification of Crop Plant, at the2001 International Palm Oil Congress (2001 PIPOC) in Kuala Lumpuryesterday.“For the Malaysian industry, the competitiveness of the oil isprogressively being undermined by increasing production cost,’’ she said.Therefore, she said, the usage of GM palm oil would be able to reduceproduction cost and increase yield such as with its main competitors,soyabean and canola.In addition, she said it was apparent that the second-generation of GMproducts from these crops would have altered oil compositions.Changeability in the use of oils and fats posed an additional risk to palmoil, she added.Besides cost effectiveness and high yield through GM, Cheah said, changestaking place in the trade environment would create more competitiveness.The implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements andthe regional trade policies, namely, Asean Free Trade Area and the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement, would inevitably lead to liberalisation.Hence, the ability to change the storage oil composition in plants wouldbe of particular relevance, she argued.“With reduced restrictions on trade, there will be much more competitionamong the producing countries, more so with the availability of thetechnology to change the composition of oils at will, as made possiblethrough GM technology,’’ said Cheah.She stressed that it was essential for the industry to strategise thesechallenges in order to sustain competitive advantage and keep pace withthe latest developments.

DRB-HICOM Bhd has confirmed that it is one of the local parties involvedin the double-tracking rail project linking Seremban and Johor Baru.

UNICO-DESA Plantations Bhd expects to perform better in its current yearended March 31, 2001, thanks to higher crude palm oil (CPO) prices, itschairman and managing director Tan Sri Ngan Ching Wen said.Speaking to reporters after the company AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday,Ngan said the plantation company had locked in favourable CPO prices forthe next five months, and hence was likely to report better results in itscurrent financial year.He declined, however, to disclose the average CPO prices locked in, exceptto say that he expects CPO to remain at around RM1, 100 per tonne thisyear.For the financial year ended March 31 this year, the group suffered a57.4% drop in pre-tax profit to RM8.84mil, down from RM20.74mil the yearbefore as a result of a lower CPO prices.Turnover was 26.4% lower to RM76.3mil, from RM103.62mil previously.Ngan said the RM8.84mil pre-tax profit was lower than the group’s profitforecast of RM26.43mil as average CPO prices sold by Unico-Desa during theyear under review was only RM828 per tonne instead of the projected RM1,100.He said the group had received several proposals to acquire more land toincrease the oil palm acreage, but had not decided on any as it waswaiting for a good price.Listed on the KLSE main board in May last year, Unico-Desa currently hasland bank of about 12,168 ha in Lahad Datu, Sabah.Ngan also said the group would continue to focus on the cultivation of oilpalm, and would not invest heavily on palm oil refinery as it involvedhigh set up costs.Friday, August 24, 2001The Star