Archived News

New Delhi, May 13 (Dow Jones)India's benchmark import price of palm oil was last revised Nov. 17,2003, while the price of crude soyoil was last revised March 3.India calculates import taxes on edible oils based on thesegovernment-set prices, called "tariff values," regardless of the actualimport price reported by importers. As a result, these tariff values havea big impact on edible oil prices in the local and overseas markets as achange in the tariff value effectively means a change in India's importtax.With palm oil prices steadily rising in the international market sinceNov. 17, 2003, any revision of the tariff value to reflect current marketprices would in effect lead to a higher tax on imported palm oil and couldtherefore be considered bearish for prices.India imports around 5 million tons of edible oils annually, and palmoil constitutes 74% of the total imports. "The government didn't want torisk (higher edible oil prices by a) revision of edible oil tariff valueswhen elections were round the corner. I think once a new government isformed, there will be a revision of these prices," said D.P. Khandelia,chairman of the Central Organization of Oil Industry and Trade, or COOIT.Similarly, grains exporters are awaiting a decision on exportsubsidies on rice and wheat once a new government is in office.India's wheat and rice exporters were, until August 2003, only allowedto source subsidized grains from the state-owned Food Corporation ofIndia. Starting Aug. 1, however, FCI abruptly stopped supplying grain toexporters amid concerns of falling national stocks.The federal government has since allowed exporters to buy grainsdirectly from farmers and had at that time promised a subsidy package tomake Indian rice and wheat competitive in the international market. Thatpackage is yet to be announced."Grain exports will pick up as soon as the government announces itssubsidy. However, in the current political scenario, no one expects asubsidy announcement before June," said Suresh Pandya, vice-president(exports) at Vishal Overseas, a major Indian exporter of grains.The lack of export subsidies has brought Indian grains exports to anear `halt, with only very small quantities exported over the past sixmonths.

05/13/04 - Dara Masih picks a can of ghee - clarified butter used forcooking - from a shop in one of Lahore's poorest districts as he lamentsthe higher cost of healthier vegetable cooking oil, which is out of reachfor Pakistan's lower-income families.

May 13, 2004 - GOLDEN HOPE Plantations Bhd (GHope) is gearing itself to bean integrated player in the plantation industry with equal focus onupstream and downstream activities.

JAKARTA, May 14 Asia Pulse - Indonesia hopes to expand exports of crudepalm oil (CPO) to South Korea.

BUSINESSWORLD (PHILIPPINES) 05/10/04 - The Philippine coconut industrywants the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to amend itsnutrition labeling regulations so as not to adversely affect shipments ofPhilippine coconut oil and food products.

5/6/2004 - A 13-member Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEAI)team went to China at the invitation of China National Vegetable OilAssociation (CNVOA). The visit was sponsored by ministry of commerce ofthe government of India.

Medan, N Sumatra, May 5 (ANTARA) - Indonesia will host the second forumon sustainable palm oil scheduled for early September, one of itsorganizers said on Wednesday.

May 5 2004 - THERE’S some exciting news on the horizon from the US forMalaysian palm oil producers.

May 5 2004 - ONCE upon a time, the Federal Land Development Authority’s(Felda) land schemes were seen as frontier land, outposts and even a finalwork place for those left without other options.

13 June, 2003 - Vitamin E and beta carotene do not protect against heartdisease and may even be harmful, according to doctors.Previous studies have suggested these vitamins can keep arteries healthyand can protect against heart disease.

4/5/054 - Vitamins could actually increase levels of "bad cholesterol",researchers have suggested.It had been thought that vitamins could protect the heart.

Beijing, Apr 23 (PTI) Aided by good monsoon, India is set to produce 25million tonnes of oilseeds this year compared to 15.57 million tonnes lastyear, allowing enhanced production of vegetable oils at 7.50 milliontonnes, a visiting senior Indian industry official said here.