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16 January,2002 (Business Times) - GAINS made by plantation stocks overthe past few days are likely to be sustained as the upswing in crude palmoil (CPO) prices is expected to lift share prices of companies such as IOICorp Bhd, PPB Oil Palms Bhd, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 - Our final estimate on CPO production in Decembershows on upward revision of 30,000 tonnes to 940,000 tonnes. More dataavailable warranted upward revision on the crop in the East Coast regionof Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, both major producing areas that receivedheavy rainfall in the last 7-10 days of December.Basically there were more crop on the palms than expected. And despitethe wet weather and floods, the overall oil extraction rate (OER) at anestimated 19.4 percent only dropped slightly or not as much as expectedand was also slightly higher than the rate in December 2000 when therewere no reports of floods. CPO output declined an estimated 11.7 percentcompared to November. Production fell around 14 percent in PeninsularMalaysia and eight percent in East Malaysia, For the whole of 2001production in the country expanded 8.8 percent to 11.8 million tonnes.The estimate on palm oil offtake in December remains unchanged at 1.11million tonnes. Concomitant with the revision in output, the estimate onend-December stocks of palm oil is raised to 1.14 million tonnes. Thisrepresents a decline of 155,000 tonnes from November. Compared to a yearearlier, stockswere down around 280,000 tonnes. In contrast to the substantial drawdownin palm oil stocks, stocks of PKO remained at a burdensome level. Decemberrepresents the third consecutive month in which PKO stocks remainedstagnant at or near record high level of around 360,000 tonnes. Totalstocks of PK/PKO, oil basis, are estimated at just above 400,000 tonnes orsome 5,000 tonnes lower than November. Compared to December 2000, stockswere up by around 80,000 tonnes. Production of PK in December declined27,000 tonnes or nine percent to an estimated 289,000 tonnes. Given thecontrasting stocks situation between palm oil - basically CPO - and PKO,it is no surprise that while the average price of CPO in PeninsularMalaysia rose 54.50 ringgit to 1,113 ringgit in December, the price of PKand PKO were hardly changed at 494.50 ringgit and 1,027.50 ringgitrespectively.Consequently, the discount of PKO to CPO widened to 85.5 ringgit inDecember from 30.5 ringgit in November and 10 ringgit in October. Inrecent days the spread has widened to 100 ringgit - 112.50 ringgit. CPOprice averaged 900 ringgit last year, down 97 ringgit or neatly 10 percentfrom 2000. PK price fared much worse, dropping 280 ringgit or 37 percent.After posting gains of 43-50 ringgit in the first-three days of thenew year, CPO futures advanced further early this week. Follow-throughupward momentum along with other chart-driven forces propelled price 57-51ringgit higher in active trade in the first-two days of this week. Settingthe pace in the global vegoils market and at times displaying independentstrength, the sustained runup was also bolstered by price of other majoroils which tried to catch up. On Tuesday the March futures contract rose33 ringgit to an intraday high of 1,287 ringgit before profit-taking alongwith commercial selling trimmed the gains to just 13 ringgit and below the1,250 ringgit mark at the close. Lagging cash values coupled with lack ofvisible fresh Chinese buying plus market talk the release of import quotasmight be delayed to February also had a restraining impact on speculativebuying interest.The market retreated and slipped into the red in the last two dayswhen it became evident bulk shipments from Malaysia would drop to wellbelow 300,000 tonnes in January 1-10. Yesterday March futures slipped 13ringgit to 1,218 ringgit and brought losses over two days to 29 ringgit.Our current projection of a 100,000 tonnes drop in palm oil exports thismonth is premised chiefly on a large decline in shipments to China. Evenif China were to release the quotas in the next week or so, it is unlikelyto result in a rush in shipments in late January/early February.The soya market in the United States (U.S.) and South America must beclosely monitored in the weeks and months ahead. This applies particularlyfor export sales of SBO for the April-June quarter. Argentina has repeggedthe peso to 1.40 to the dollar but the develuation of nearly 30 percent isunlikely to be sustained. Argentina farmers/exporters who hold back beyondthis month in selling for fear further develuation and/or inflation risklosing overseas markets. With the Argentina government in desperate needfor revenue, export duties/taxes may also be imposed or raised in the nearfuture.(The opinions expressed in this article represent the views of theauthor only. They should not be seen as necessarily reflecting the viewsof Reuters)

11 January, 2002 (Oil World) - Vegetable oil imports are rising sharplythis season as a consequence of a pronounced decline in domesticproduction, mainly of sun oil. Combined imports of soybean oil and sun oilare seen reaching about 425 Thd T this season, an increase of 160 Thd T or60% from a year ago. We expect that soybean oil will cover the bulk ofthis increase whereas lack of sufficient availabilities and the stillunusually large price premiums of sun oil will probably limit imports to150-160 Thd T this season. Sun oil imports were up sharply from a year agoat an estimated 58 Thd T in Oct/Dec 2001. Due to the lowered tariffbarrier and the high preference for sun oil on the domestic market, Turkeybecame the world's largest sun oil importer recently. This furthertightened the available supplies for other traditional importers such asIndia, Egypt and Algeria. Based on preliminary export information ,soybean oil imports were boosted to around 90 Thd T last quarter, of which57 Thd T from the U.S. and the remainder from Argentina.

11 January, 2002 (Oil World)

Date Posted: 1/11/2002The American Soybean Association (ASA) was disturbed to learn from a newsarticle that it was working with the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council(MPOPC) to develop a branded margarine product since there is no suchjoint effort.ASA Chief Executive Officer Stephen Censky said, "The ASA is not engagedin any joint collaborative efforts with the Malaysian Palm Oil PromotionCouncil, and is not involved in any efforts to develop a soy-palm blendedproduct of any kind."The news article, published in a Jan. 4, 2002, Business Times (Malaysia)via NewsEdge Corporation article, was based on an interview with MPOPCChief Executive Officer Datuk Haron Siraj.When contacted this week by ASA Southeast Asia Regional Director JohnLindblom, Haron said he recognized the article was inaccurate and he saidthat the reporter had misinterpreted what he said. Haron told Lindblomthat the margarine product was developed by a U.S. company with input fromMPOPC. Haron said he had already contacted the newspaper about theinaccuracy.ASA is a membership organization that represents 25,000 U.S. soybeanproducers.

Chemical Business NewsBase: Chemical Market Reporter via NewsEdgeCorporation : 12/17/2001The supply/demand balance for glycerine is improving following a reductionin production of fatty chemicals and biodiesel. Glycerine is a co-productof biodiesel. Prices are rising, due to the tightening supply situation,particularly in Asia and Europe. There is strong demand for high end useof glycerine in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This balances fallingdemand for industrial applications such as alkyd resins and polyetherpolyols which are down 1%/y and 1.5%/y respectively. The glycerine marketis growing by 1.9%/ y. US demand in 2000 was 537 M pounds (+ 20% on 1999).Procter and Gamble is expanding its glycerine refining capacity.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Sri Lanka Rubber Research Insititutedirector Dr L.M.K Tillekeratne says his comments published early this yearthat replanting rubber estates with oil palm without serious scientificstudy could damage the environment was only applicable to the Sri Lankasituation.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Malaysia's palm oil futures were firmeron Thursday on market-friendly export figures and traders said the outlookwas bullish due to steady overseas demand and tightness in Indonesia.Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS) estimated Malaysia's palmoil exports for January 1-10 at 287,626 tonnes, down from 325,389 tonnesin December 1-10."The market has expected the figure to reach 240,000-250,000 tonnes.Instead, exports reached 287,000 tonnes which is above expectations," saidone trader in Malaysia."This is partly due to the problem in Indonesia," said the trader,referring to the world's second largest palm oil producer and Malaysia'smain rival.Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn Bhd(SGS), whose figures are more closely watched by the market, is due torelease its export estimates for the first 10 days of January after 0600GMT on Thursday.At midday, the benchmark third-month March futures was up seven ringgitat 1,238 ringgit ($325.79) a tonne, after trading as high as 1,247. Volumewas moderate at 1,421 lots.Indonesian authorities said on Wednesday they expected traffic in Belawanport in North Sumatra to return to normal in four or five days as effortsintensify to remove a sunken dredger and clear the port entrance.Some traders said Belawan was digging a new channel, but it would not beable to accommodate big vessels and thus could further affect shipments.Traders said refiners in Indonesia were struggling to meet demand becauseof the tight supplies, adding the road linking Belawan and another mainport, Dumai, was still flooded, disrupting transportation."Vessels have to wait for up to six days in Dumai because of the tightsupply. There's not much crude palm oil available," said one trader.Traders said the Malaysian market could see more palm oil demand fromChina ahead of March, when new rules on genetically modified organism(GMO) products take effect.China said overseas firms exporting GMO products to China must apply forcertificates from the ministry stating that the goods are harmless tohumans, animals or the environment.Beijing initially required government approval for all production, saleand imports of GMO foods, but it failed to issue clear details onimplementation.Confusion over the rules brought new orders of U.S cargoes of soybeans --70 percent of which are bio-engineered -- to a virtual halt as buyersworried cargoes might not be approved.China also crushes soybeans into soyoil.Traders in Malaysia said India's palm oil imports from Malaysia andIndonesia were expected to be steady at around 300,000 tonnes in January.Pakistan, another main buyer, had already booked 120,000 tonnes of palmoil from Malaysia so far this month, they said.In the physical palm oil market, crude palm oil for January in thesouthern and central regions was offered at 1,230 ringgit a tonne againstbids of 1,225.Trade was reported at 1,225 to 1,230 for central.The February contract for south and central was offered at 1,240 ringgitand bid at 1,235. There were no deals.Among refined palm oil products, RBD palm oil for January was offered at$335 a tonne, February at $340, March at $342.50 and April/May/June at$345.RBD palm olein for January saw offers at $350, February at $355, March at$357.50 and April/May/June at $360.RBD stearin for January was offered at $265, February at $272.50 and Marchat $272.50.Palm fatty acid distillates for January and February saw offers at $260.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Egypt's state Holding Company for FoodIndustries (HCFI) is seeking to buy at least 10,000 tonnes of MalaysianRBD palm oil and 15,000 tonnes of palm stearin,both for February shipment,traders said on Wednesday.They said HCFI has an option to double the quantity.February RBD palm oil was offered at $345 a tonne FOB in Malaysia at theclose on Tuesday. February palm stearin was offered at $270 a tonne.

Kuala Lumpur, 10 January, 2002 (Business Times) - GOLDEN Hope PlantationBhd is poised to make its mark in the world edible oils market with thesuccessful purchase of Unilever Nederland BV’s 60 million euro (1 euro =RM3.43) palm oil refinery in the Netherlands.Industry observers say the move is an important milestone in Malaysia’spalm oil sector, which will hopefully spur other plantation companies tofollow suit in making downstream investments.“With the purchase, Golden Hope has given a serious challenge to otherplantation companies that are serious in making their mark overseas,” ananalyst told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.British-Dutch food and consumer products giant Unilever announcedyesterday the sale of its Unimills refinery business to Golden Hope forapproximately 60 million euro.Unilever press officer Seline Luysterburg said in a statement that thesale of the refinery, located at Zwijndrecht with 210 employees, is partof Unilever’s strategy to focus on its core businesses.The announcement brings Unilever’s intention to sell Unimills, which wasannounced on June 27 2000, to an end.It also wrapped up negotiations with Golden Hope which started in November2001.“The purchase by Golden Hope is in line with Unilever’s existing strategyto expand and diversify in order to achieve larger market share and growthand to support its food-based industry globally,” Luysterburg concluded.Sources said Golden Hope group chief executive officer Datuk Abdul WahabMaskan is currently in the Netherlands overseeing matters pertaining tothe deal, and is only expected to return to Malaysia next week.Meanwhile, a plantation analyst said Golden Hope’s acquisition will turnout to be a worthwhile investment in the future.“It may not bring in returns right away, but just making a presence inEurope is a huge feather in the cap for the company,” she said.She added that the refinery is located near the vicinity of the world’sfourth-biggest port, Rotterdam, which is a major loading and transit pointfor the world’s major edible oils which include palm oil, soyabean oil,rapeseed oil and groundnut oil, before being distributed to other parts ofEurope.She said, subsequently, with the right management and good work practicesadopted at the plant, Golden Hope can hope to diversify in the processingof other edible oils and make a mark in other European countries such asPoland and Denmark.Another analyst commented that Europe itself is a hotbed of establishedrefineries involved in the making of margerine and shortening.“The move is long overdue actually, because the industry has longadvocated companies to diversify and invest downstream to grab a biggershare of the world edible oil market, of which palm oil holds at 60 percent,” he said.The Unimills refinery’s annual sales to third partiesin central andnorthwestern Europe alone is worth some 130 million euro. The refinary hasan annual capacity to process 450,000 tonnes of palm kernel, coconut,soyabean, rapeseed and sunflower oil.Unilever, with products such as Lipton tea, Sunsilk shampoo, Breeze, Dovesoap, Walls ice-cream and Calvin Klein fragrances, plans to focus on 400leading brands starting 2004 from 1,200 brands previously.Unilever, with operations in 40 countries, had announced a sweepingreorganisation plan in February 2000 to boost sales growth of between 5per cent and 8 per cent and achieve profit margins of between 16 per centand 17 per cent by 2004.Last year, Unilever recorded sales of US$44.81 billion (US$1 = RM3.80) andan income of US$1.04 billion.In Malaysia, Unilever produces and markets a number of household productssuch as detergents, margarine and confectionaries with refined palm oil,palm kernel and oleo-chemicals as its base material.It also owns several oil palm estates in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak withwholly-owned subsidiary Pamol Plantations Sdn Bhd managing 24,291ha.Golden Hope, meanwhile, also has three other edible oil refineryoperations overseas — in Vietnam, China and Bangladesh.As a comparison, other plantation companies such as United Plantations Bhdhas palm oil operations in Mexico, the US and the UK while Sime Darby Bhdowns a refinery in Egypt and the Kwok Group has a refinery in China.Golden Hope, in its last financial year ended June 30 2001, recorded apre-tax profit of RM78 million on the back of a RM1.3 billion turnover.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 earning per share of RM13.72 .At the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, Golden Hope shares closed 4 sen lowerat RM3.50 with 73,000 shares changing hands.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- Claims by Sri Lanka Rubber ResearchInstitute director, Dr L.M.K Tillekeratne that oil palm is less versatilethan rubber is baseless and shows his ignorance of oil palm's versatility.

Kuala Lumpur, 3 January, 2002 - CHINA is announcing palm oil import quotaearly this year, with the first batch of 500,000 tonnes expected to beannounced next week.Traders said China is pressured to buy more palm oil fast by its WorldTrade Organisation’s (WTO) commitments and higher demands triggered by theLunar Year celebrations next month.Traders said the issuance of the quota to both its state-run importers andthe private sector is imminent as currently palm oil and soyabean oil arethe only available edible oils in the world market.China imposed a quota of 1.4 million tonnes last year which was increasedto 2.4 million tonnes this year in line with its entry as the 143rd memberof the WTO last month.Other edible oils include rapeseed, sunflower, sesame, groundnut andcotton oil.“The quota is expected to be announced in the first week of Januarybecause China has been consistently importing 200,000 tonnes of Malaysia’spalm oil for the past several months,” a trader told Business Times inKuala Lumpur.“Coupled with fantastic exports to other traditional buyers such as India,Pakistan and the European Union, and low seasonal output for the next fewmonths, this development augurs well for Malaysia,” the trader said.He added that talks by several plantation companies of being hit by theon-going floods also contribute to the already tightening supply.Independent cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) Sdn Bhdhad estimated December exports to drop to 1.04 million tonnes, comparedwith 1.05 million tonnes in November.According to SGS, the bulk of exports went to China at 207,784 tonnes,India (202,175 tonnes), Pakistan (88,450 tonnes) and the European Union(195,463 tonnes).The Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia’s palm oil regulator, is expectedto release official December palm oil production, export and stockpilefigures on January 12.“Even though crude palm oil (CPO) exports recorded a slight drop,nevertheless it is still encouraging in view of the current low productionmonths.“As long as exports are maintained at between 950,000 tonnes and onemillion tonnes until March, it is good news for Malaysia,” said thetrader. He added that the CPO industry’s outlook also appears good forMalaysia in which production is expected to decline by 10 per cent in themonths of January, February and March, respectively, before it picks upagain in April.“And Malaysia’s rival, Indonesia, is also expected to be out of therunning in pursuing the quota as it battles low seasonal output andincreasing domestic demand,” the trader said.For the last year’s 1.4 million-tonne quota, traders said up till June,some 70 per cent or 700,000 tonnes went to Malaysia, with the balancegoing to Indonesia.Traders and industry observers estimate that Malaysia stand to rake in atleast 70 per cent or 1.68 million tonnes of the 2.4 million quotaallocated this year.“And China is expected to issue its second quota for the year of another500,000 tonnes in March,” said another trader.However, he said China would need to study the declining production ofrapeseed and sunflower oils in Argentina and Brazil before issuing thequota.“If the situation there remains tight, then perhaps the quota might beincreased,” he said.China is Malaysia’s third biggest CPO buyer of which it bought 1.02million tonnes last year. India was the largest buyer at 2.03 milliontonnes followed by the European Union at 1.03 million tonnes.Traders also dismissed the possibility of Malaysia’s palm oil exports toIndia and Pakistan being disrupted as the threat of war between the twocountries escalates.“I don’t think war will break out. In this case, the US will tell India tocool it because the US still needs Pakistan as its closest ally to huntdown Osama bin Laden, its number one suspect of the terrorist attacks onNew York and Washington,” the trader said.