Archived News

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) today signedtwo renewable energy purchase agreements (REPA) with Bumibiopower Sdn Bhdand Jana Landfill Sdn Bhd under the small renewable energy programme(SREP).Under the agrement, TNB agreed to purchase electricity from Bumibiopowerat 16.7 sen per kWh (kilowatt hour) for 21 years, and from Jana Landfillat 16.5 sen per kWh for 15 years.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Entrepreneurs in the oil palm industryshould explore the exciting potential for oil palm-based animal feed, saidMohd Yunus Ismail, feedmill co-ordinator at the Malaysian AgricultureResearch and Development Institute (MARDI).

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Oil palm biomass-based furniture can gofar but their full potential will only be realised in about five years asa result of constraints now being faced by the industry, a seminar was oldtoday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The Primary Industries Minister DatukSeri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said that he would meet the shipping insurancecompanies to talk on the war-risk premium which it has affected the marketfor palm oil.

16 October 2001 (business Times)

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Palm oil industry players should takeadvantage of the German experience, technology and financial assistance toexpand their business, said Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr LimKeng Yaik here today.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, the biggest palm oil producerin the world, fears the increase in its crude palm oil stock will bedetrimental to the industry, said the primary industry minister Datuk SeriDr Lim Keng Yaik.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) saidthat the commercialisation of palm oil biomass is very slow although ithas presented the products from research activities to entrepreneurs toexploit them.

16 October 2001 (Business Times)

BANGALORE, Oct. 5. (Business Line) - THE current disagreement between ITCand Conagra over the oil milling facility in Mantralayam reflects thestate of the edible oil industry today, thanks to Government policies.The 300-tonne-per-day capacity mill has now become economically unviablebecause of these policies and neither Agro Tech Foods Ltd (ATFL),Conagra's subsidiary which had taken the facility on lease from ITC, northe original owner of the factory really wants it.The disagreement arises from the fact that Conagra now wants to take it ona fresh lease on different terms than that agreed to in 1997, or buy itoutright for Rs 14 crore, though ITC itself had paid Rs 112 crore for it.ITC, which first set up the facility, had hoped to repeat the success ofits tobacco experiment with sunflower. ITC is credited with introducingcontract manufacturing of tobacco and encouraging cultivation through itsother unit, ILTD (ITC Leaf Tobacco Division).However, the sunflower oil facility has succumbed to forces that has theentire milling industry in the country in doldrums. The Mantralayamfactory highlights what the Government policies have done to theindigenous oils and oilseeds industry.When it was set up, the company bought the sunflower grown by farmers inthe surrounding Rayalseema and north Karnataka regions. But crushingedible oil became unviable after the Government brought edible oil underOGL.Since then a series of protests finally resulted in increasing the importduty from 15 per cent to the current 75 per cent, though in stages. Everytime the duty was increased, Malaysia - from where most of the palm oilwas being imported - reacted by dropping prices, according to SolventExtractors' Association (SEA) sources.While sunflower oil was not being imported till two years ago, all edibleoils suffered from cheap imports as they were being mixed with theimported oils, according to industry sources.Two years ago, ATFL stopped milling and found it more economical to importsunflower oil and package it here, say sources. This decision meant asignificant reduction in the demand for sunflower seeds. ATFL was themajor buyer of seeds from farmers in the region.With the demand down, the area under sunflower dropped in north Karnatakafrom 8.81 lakh hectares in 1996-97, to 5.74 lakh hectares in 2000-01.In the Rayalseema district, where around six lakh hectares were undersunflower, there has been an estimated 50 per cent drop in cultivatedarea. Prices fell from Rs 1,050-1,350 per quintal in 1996-97 to Rs 800-950in 2000-01.Incidentally, the move has also affected Advanta India (formerly ITCZeneca), which sold moisture stress-tolerant hybrids in the drought-proneRayalseema and north Karnataka areas. The company had 80 per cent of themarket-share in sunflower seeds in the area and, according to sources,sales of sunflower seeds came down by 50 per cent, as there were notakers.To drive home the point of the effect of imports, industry sources pointout that the immediate connection between the import duty prices and theprices of oilseeds is apparent. The latest increase in import duty to 75per cent saw sunflower seed prices firm up at Rs 16 per kg and remainstable, after a long time.SEA sources believe that a policy more favourable to the Indian industrycan rejuvenate the sector and help it bounce back in three years.

06 October 2001 (NSTP)

15 October 2001 (Business Times) - MANY plantation companies had hopedthat by going into property development, they would be less exposed to thevagaries of the palm oil market. But with the lower demand for homes andoffices of late and palm oil prices remaining soft, these companies nowface a double-blow to their profitability.The outlook for both the property and plantation sectors in the nextquarter is not good, analysts said.“Previously, when prices of crude palm oil (CPO) fall, these companies cancount on property project earnings to serve as a buffer... which is notthe case in the current circumstances,” one said.The global economic slowdown has seen CPO prices easing while creatinguncertainties that affect property demand, thus threatening to take theshine off these companies’ shares, he said.Among plantation companies exposed to property development are KumpulanGuthrie Bhd and its subsidiaries Highlands & Lowlands Bhd and GuthrieRopel Bhd.And IOI Corp Bhd is involved in the sector through IOI Properties Bhd.Such plantation companies have a combined weightage of about 31 per centon the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) Plantation Index.According to the valuation and property services department, the totalnumber of unsold properties comprising houses, shops and industrial unitsfell 25.4 per cent to 46,315 units as at June 2001 from 62,051 units as atend-December 2000.However, total residential stock edged up 1 per cent to 2.6 million unitsin the second quarter from the first three months of the year.“Consumer confidence and spending may weaken... I think only companieswith good landbank in good locations are in a good position to weather thedecline in demand,” said another analyst.Likewise, investing in companies with commercial and industrial propertiesshould be guarded, he added.The palm oil sector, meanwhile, has an estimated stock of 1.17 milliontonnes as at end-September, up 290,000 tonnes from a month earlier.While Malaysia is facing pressure to increase exports in order to reducethe stock and buoy prices, rival producers — especially Indonesia — havebeen flooding the market with the commodity.“But plantation companies generally remain fundamentally strong,” theanalyst said.Unfortunately, investors are ignoring their positive attributes, such asstrong net tangible assets and low levels of borrowings.Still, the KLSE Plantation Index has outperformed the bellwether KualaLumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index (KLCI), despite most plantationcompanies posting weak quarterly earnings.The KL Plantation Index even managed to rise to a 52-week high of 1,639.55points on August 27, up from its year-low of 1,248.99 points on April 10.But in the past two weeks, the Plantation index has been falling at afaster pace than the KLCI.It lost 2.17 per cent and the KLCI 0.97 per cent between September 28 andOctober 11. Most analysts attribute the fall to the military attack by theUS on Afghanistan.Exports to Pakistan, Egypt and other consumers in West Asia account forabout 10 per cent, or 100,000 tonnes of, Malaysia’s monthly shipments ofthe commodity.India is Malaysia’s single largest market for CPO followed by the EuropeanUnion, China, Pakistan and Egypt. Collectively, they buy 61.5 per cent ofMalaysia’s palm oil.The long-term outlook for palm oil, however, remains intact given thevarious measures already taken by the Government, including entering intocounter-trade arrangements for the commodity.