Archived News

Thursday August 5, 2004 - RISING freight rates are threatening to throttlea pick-up in demand for Asian palm oil, as world crude oil prices soar torecord highs, said industry officials.

Friday August 6, 2004 - THE outlook for crude palm oil (CPO) prices is notas bearish as many expect, said Plantation Industries and CommoditiesMinister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

Wednesday August 4, 2004 - SARAWAK will have two more palm oil refineriesand 10 new mills to cater to the rapidly expanding oil palm industry.

8/5/2004 - Rachel Eidelman and colleagues from the Agatston ResearchInstitute, Miami Beach, Florida, US, reviewed the literature and foundthat, in the studies covered by the review, vitamin E did not reduce therisk of heart attack or stroke.

BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Argentina should not cede to internationalpressure and give up a differential tax plan that encourages theproduction of soyoil and soymeal, the Argentine Oilseed Chamber saidWednesday.The Argentine government taxes exports of soybeans and soybeanproducts at 23.5% and 20%, respectively. The lower tax on soy productsaims to boost production of these goods because they bring added value tothe economy.However, the European Union, the U.S. and other nations oppose thedifferential tax, saying it gives an unfair advantage to the localsoybean-processing industry. The policy has complicated recentnegotiations between the E.U. and Mercosur, a regional trade bloccomprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay."The Argentine Oilseed Chamber expresses its support for the positionadopted by the government to defend the policy of not negotiating thedifferential tax in Mercosur-E.U. talks or in the World TradeOrganization," the chamber said in a statement.While soybeans can be exported directly, soymeal and soyoil must firstbe extracted from the bean at processing plants. The derivatives, around95% of which are exported, are then packaged and sold at higher prices.In addition to adding value to the final product, this processfortifies Argentina's industrial sector and provides jobs for localworkers.For the E.U. and the U.S., however, the differential tax is akin to anexport subsidy. Both have called on Argentina to ax the benefit,especially since Argentina often complains about export subsidies in theE.U. and U.S."Amid this pressure, it's worth noting that the differential exporttax is not - and does not resemble - a subsidy such as those thatdeveloped nations use to boost their production and exports," the chambersaid in the release. "Second, this is a legal tool that favors theindustrialization of raw materials in the country, which creates morework, investment and export capacity."The chamber said it was unacceptable for Argentina to give up thedifferential tax and that doing so would "bring grave consequences" to thecountry's economy.Meanwhile, the chamber said the tax serves to compensate for higherimport tariffs that developed nations place on elaborated products such assoyoil."Raw materials - in this case grains - do not currently face importtaxes in world trade, though processed products face very high tariffs orthey are subject to quotas," the chamber said in the release."The differential tax compensates for this," Alberto Rodriguez, thechamber's executive director, told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.Finally, the chamber slammed the existence of export subsidies indeveloped nations, particularly in the U.S.Subsidies to U.S. soybean farmers between 1998-2000 boostedproduction, causing world soybean prices to decline to their lowest levelsin 30 years, the chamber said."This led to the bankruptcy of seven large Argentine oilseed companiesand caused the sector to lose a minimum of $1 billion," the chamber saidin the release.Argentina is the world's third-biggest soybean exporter and the topexporter of soyoil and soymeal. This is despite the fact that farmers inthe U.S. and Brazil, the world first- and second-ranked soybean producers,respectively, face no export taxes.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 Asia Pulse - Petaling Garden Berhad said itsindirectly-owned subsidiary, Perusahaan Minyak Sawit Bintang Sdn Bhd(Bintang), has signed an agreement with Eonchem Technology Sdn Bhd(Eonchem) to construct a Palm Oil Solvent Extraction Plant for RM5 million(US$1.3 million).

8/4/2004 - THE Government is targeting a fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yieldof 35 tonnes per ha a year for the palm oil industry.It also wants to increase the oil extraction rate (OER) to 25 per cent.

KARACHI (July 29 2004): Pakistan's palm oil imports have slowed down assoft world prices discouraged importers from placing fresh orders, dealerssaid on Wednesday. They said the importers would first wait to see wherethe palm oil prices in Malaysia are heading.

HYDERABAD (July 02 2004): Pakistan endeavouring to bridge the gab betweenedible oil production and consumption but the introduction of palm oilcultivation in coastal area of Sindh has hardly brought any fruits.

KUALA LUMPUR (August 05 2004): Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose onspeculative support on Wednesday, bucking initial expectations of a weakmarket.

CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (Dow Jones)--U.S. farmers awoke to find local elevatorsbidding even lower prices for their soybeans Wednesday, as a 5 1/2-centdeterioration in average basis more than offset a 1-cent gain in Novfutures registered at the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday.Although the continued disintegration of soybean prices may havegrowers mystified, consultant Rich Balvanz, with Ag Management Services ofMarion, Iowa, said a big-picture view of the market shows, "There are noweather problems that are hurting the crop currently. The forecast, atworst, poses some temporary stress. So unless things really deteriorate inthe way that they did last year, we are on our way to very good corn andsoybean yields. This being the case, it is unlikely that new crop lowshave been made, particularly in soybeans."Brokerage firm FCStone currently forecasts the 2004-05 U.S. corn cropat 10.938 billion bushels and the U.S. soybean crop at 2.982 billionbushels.U.S. grain futures were mixed at the Chicago Board of Trade overnight,with gains of 2 1/2 cents in Sep soft red winter wheat, 3/4 cent in Sepcorn and 1/4 cent in Sep oats, offset by a 3-cent decline in Nov soybeans.

8/4/2004 Renewable Fuel News - World production of oilseeds and palm oilis increasing and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),that is due in part to the increased use of biodiesel.