Archived News

March 4 2004 - PRICES of crude palm oil (CPO) futures may test the RM2,500a tonne level by middle of this year should soyabean oil supply succumb tounfavourable weather conditions.

March 5 2004 - MALAYSIA’S crude palm oil (CPO) prices will range betweenRM1,600 and RM2,100 a tonne this year, experts said at aglobally-monitored international conference on the industry in KualaLumpur yesterday.

March 5 2004 - INDIA has raised the import duty on the base price ofsoyabean oil from US$643 (US$1 = RM3.80) a tonne to US$710 a tonne, butleft unchanged the base price for palm oil.

March 4 2004 - PAKISTAN is expected to buy up to 1.4 million tonnes ofpalm oil products, from both Malaysia and Indonesia, in 2004, up 3.2 percent from 3.1 million tonnes last year.

March 5 2004 - DEMAND for Malaysian palm oil may increase in the nearterm following Indonesia’s higher tariff and China’s larger appetite.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) -- All containers and cargo destined forthe United States will be checked and examined by the US Customs in PortKlang as part of a special cooperation programme between Malaysia and theUS.

Dow AgroSciences is developing triple-low rape varieties that have lowlevels of erucic acid, glucosinolates and linolenic acid and yieldhealthier, tastier and more durable vegetable oil. United Oilseeds is apartner in the development. A spring variety Nexera will be sown on 7,500ha in the UK in 2004 yielding some 10,000 tonnes of seed for crushing. DowAgroSciences expects 1-1.5 M ha of the EU's 3 M oilseed rape to betriple-low eventually. ADM Pura, supplying some 55% of the UK'srapeseed-derived oils and fats, is eager to deal in healthier oils withlower contents of trans fatty acids.

The European Union Helpdesk Database was lunch on 2nd February, 2004. Itis being developed in several stages. The first phase consists of adatabase on the internet including the following elements :-

World oilseed prices are expected to be volatile over the next few monthsas markets monitor pre-harvest weather in major soyabean growers Braziland Argentina, according to the UK's Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA).

Chinese palm oil intake is expected to increase to 3.3 million tonnes in2003/04 from 3.1 million in the previous year, boosted by a shortage ofdomestic oils and improved economy according to a Chinese industryofficial. The domestic market will move into a peak season for palm oilconsumption at the begininning of May, 2004, thereafter, palm oil pricesare expected to edge up. Demand is expected to decline from September orOctober before rebounding again in December, 2004. Chinese demand forimported oils and oilseeds will also remain strong in 2003/04, with totaledible oils availability expect to reach 18.4 million tonnes compared with17.7 million tonnes in 2002/03. Prices on the domestic market and theinternational market have reached highs in recent years amid mountingrisks, therefore China, P.R. will import edible oils more prudently.

India, the world's largest edible oil importer, raised the base importprice of crude soybean oil on Wednesday (03/03/04), a move traders saidwould firm up domestic prices and hit soybean oil imports. A FinanceMinistry notification said the price of crude soybean oil had been raisedto $710 a tonne from $643. But it left the base import price of palm oilsunchanged. Traders said that the increase in the base price of crudesoybean oil was likely to hit imports in the coming months because palmoil was cheaper. Palm oil stands to gain because the disparity in priceshas further widened with the revision of base prices.

Pakistan is expected to buy 1.4 million tonnes of palm oil this year thesame amount as 200, but soyabean oil imports could drop 20% due to highprices, according tto industry sources. RBD palm olein would make up thebulk of its palm oil imports, which came from leading producers Malaysiaand Indonesia in 2003. However soyabean oil imports from South America andother sources could drop from last year’s 126,000 tonnes, particularly ifPakistan does not receive aid or grants.