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The Israeli and Thai governments signed an agreement to enable the arrival of 25,000 agricultural workers from Thailand to Israel, the Israeli foreign ministry said.

Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) Bhd has asked for more details from Liberty Share (LS) on allegations of breaches committed after the activist group petitioned the United States to ban SDP’s palm oil export.

Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) production rose in June 2010 by a minimal 2.5% month-on-month (m-o-m) to 1.42 million (m) tonnes, while exports rose by a larger 5.5% m-o-m to 1.44m tonnes.

The announcement comes more than a year after Prime Minister Hun Sen proposed to begin preparations for the FTA during his visit to South Korea in March last year.

Palm oil is one of the most widely traded and omnipresent agricultural commodities, an ingredient that appears in food, cleaning products and toiletries. But the expanding industry and growing demand has left a trail of deforestation and human rights abuses in its wake.

Oil slipped nearly 1% on Monday as traders eyed an OPEC technical meeting this week which is expected to recommend an easing in supply cuts that have been propping up crude prices.

THE latest cut in the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) rate by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) last week will continue to divert money into liquid investments like stocks as the ringgit is lifted by higher crude oil prices as economic activity gains transaction.

Consumption of edible oil in India, which is dominated by palm oil, has crashed by nearly 40% since the national lockdown began. Palm oil imports may slump by as much as 25% in 2020, to the lowest levels in at least a decade, experts say.

Analysts have maintained their "neutral" stand on the plantation sector after the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported data for June with month-end stockpiles declining slightly more than expected by 6.3% month-on-month (m-o-m) to 1.9 million tonnes.

Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Monday, tracking losses in crude and rival soyoil, while and as higher June production also hurt sentiment.

Crude palm oil (CPO) price is expected to trend lower in the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, as output level is expected to outpace demand loss from the possibility of intermittent coronavirus lockdowns, said MIDF Research.

For sector exposure (small-mid cap), we prefer Ta Ann as they remained as one of the profitable upstream companies during a depressed crude palm oil (CPO) environment coupled with its undemanding valuation, ” it said.