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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.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Malaysia's palm oil output was estimatedat 915,000-920,000 tonnes in January, down 14 percent from December,private crop forecaster Ivan Wong said on Tuesday.Wong's estimates, released to the market on Monday, forecastend-January stocks of palm oil at 1.16-1.17 million tonnes, down from theofficial 1.21 million tonnes in December.The crop forecaster put palm oil exports in January at 855,000-860,000tonnes, down from the official 949,630 tonnes in December.Wong's palm oil supply-demand estimates/projections as of January 21,2002 (in '000 tonnes) were:DecJan Feb MarOpening stocks 1294 12131155-1165 960-970Imports 4132 5-10 5Production 949 915-920760-765 870-875Total supply 2284 2160-21651920-1945 1835-1850Exports 950 855-860820-825 880-885Apparent domestic use 121 140-145130-135 135-140Total offtake 1071 995-1005950-960 1015-1025End month stocks 1213 1155-1165960-970 810-820

SITIAWAN, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- A US-based public relations company will beappointed next month to promote the use of palm oil and palm tree biomassin the local and international markets, Primary Industries Minister DatukSeri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said Sunday.

Kuala Lumpur , 21 January, 2002 (Business Times) - TWO major deals worth atotal of RM767.5 million in three months has put the spotlight on GoldenHope Plantations Bhd, as investors factor in the effects of those deals onwhat had been a solid, dependable counter.Analysts say prior to the deals, investors have always been comfortablewith the plantation group’s net cash reserve of between RM400 million andRM500 million.“Previously, they knew that they can get their returns by investing inGolden Hope shares.“But now with the acquisitions, its cash reserve will be depleted for sureand fund managers will wonder whether the company can maintain itsperformance,” said an analyst with a local research firm.Golden Hope, a unit of national fund management entity Perbadanan NasionalBhd, has been in the limelight for the past several months with thesuccessful acquisition of the world’s second largest edible oil refineryin the Netherlands two weeks ago.On January 9 this year, after negotiations started in November 2 lastyear, Golden Hope bought the Unimills edible oils refinery fromBritish-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever Plc for 60 millioneuro (1 euro = RM3.38).The Unimills refinery which employs 210 workers is located in Zwijndrecht,near the vicinity of the world’s fourth largest port, Rotterdam.The refinery has annual sales of its products to third parties of 130million euro in central and north-western parts Europe alone with anannual capacity to process 450,000 tonnes of palm kernel, coconut,soyabean, rapeseed and sunflower oils.Prior to that, Golden Hope, through its wholly-owned subsidiary GoldenHope Properties (Pahang ) Sdn Bhd, had also bought the 800ha Haron Estatefrom Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd for RM565.28 million.The analyst said with the cash gone, in purchasing the refinery and lockedup in the Haron estate deal, questions remain whether Golden Hope couldmaintain good dividend payments for the current financial year.“We have been quite negative with the land purchase right from the verybeginning in which we feel the pricing is a bit too high.“Golden Hope should have negotiated for a lower price and it is nothealthy for any company to have their cash locked up in an estate,”shesaid.Under the deal, Golden Hope is required to make annual payments of RM113million for the first four years and RM156. 5 million to Guthrie in thefifth and final year.Meanwhile, another analyst said the Unimills refinery deal lacks financialdetails in its previous performance such as net sales, overhead cost,operational cost and and turnover.“No one is really sure how much cost Golden Hope has to incur annually inrunning the refinery.“Until we get more details it is still not fair to comment whether therefinery purchase was a fair deal for Golden Hope or not, and investorswill continue to remain in the dark,” he said.The analyst added that Golden Hope’s international divisions such asrubber trading was also not doing well and would put a dent in itsperformance this year.“Investors have always associated Golden Hope as one of the top fourplantation stocks together with Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), IOI CorpBhd and Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd.“However, their cash is now gone, locked up in the deals, and at thisjuncture I would go for IOI or KLK,” she concluded.For the financial year ended June 30 2001, Golden Hope registered aRM20.45 million net profit compared with RM163.65 million in 2000 andRM439.72 million in 1999.Multex Global Estimates, which compiles forecasts from 17 research houses,projects Golden Hope to make a net profit of RM139 million on the back ofa RM1.58 billion turnover with earnings per share of 13.72 sen.For the first three months ended September 30 2001, the company made a netprofit of RM9.28 million compared with RM27.37 million in the samecorresponding period last year.At the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE), from a period of between July16 last year to January 14 this year, Golden Hope shares depreciated 4.95per cent and only managed a 3.46 per cent in total returns.Its share traded from RM3.64 on July 16 last year to RM3.46 last Friday.Its share price dipped to as low as RM3.08 during the September 11 attacksbut managed to climb back to RM3.50 a share within a week.As a comparison, the KLSE’s Composite Index, during the same period,registered a 11.31 per cent appreciation and recorded 12.89 per cent intotal returns.KLSE’s sub-plantation index, meanwhile, registered a 4.60 per centappreciation with total returns of 5.66 per cent.However, not all the analysts contacted were pessimistic with the deal.“Bear in mind, Golden Hope is almost a hundred years old and the companyis one of the most cost-efficient plantation companies in the country withhigh yields and low cost of crude palm oil production.“Coupled with good management practises the company can put in place goodwork ethics which can bring returns to the refinery,” said the analyst.He added the deal in Europe has also placed the company at the centre ofthe world’s edible oils market which can result in a bigger market shareas far as refining and processing oils were concerned,“The refinery not only can process palm oil but it can also processrapeseed, soyabean and sunflower oils.”He added that competition in Europe was stiff, where all the foreign-ownedrefiners would vie for sales to process edible oils and Golden Hope has anadvantage if it charges more competitive rates to multinationals in thefood and consumer products business that use edible oil as their basematerials.“The returns may not be immediate but over time it will be well worth it,”he said.He added that the move was also in line with diversification plans urgedby the Government which stressed plantation companies to expand theirearnings base.As a comparison, other plantation companies such as United Plantations Bhdhas palm oil operations in Mexico, the US and the UK.Sime Darby Bhd, meanwhile, owns a refinery in Egypt and the Kwok Group hasa refinery in China.Golden Hope currently has a landbank of over 170,000ha comprising mainlyof palm oil, cocoa, rubber, coconut and fruits. Golden Hope alsomanufactures glycerine or fatty alcohol, fruit juices, food, rubber baseproducts and also owns several property developments.It is also an investment holding company with activities in ownershipmanagement, processing, marketing and research activities.Golden Hope’s overseas operations are in Vietnam, Germany and China.The Vietnam and China operations are in the business of refining edibleoil. In Indonesia Golden Hope is in the midst of developing its firstoverseas oil palm plantation including a processing complex.