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BEIJING (Reuters) - Some Chinese companies are seeking new purchases of U.S. agricultural products, China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday, citing authorities, as Beijing and Washington look for ways to end a protracted trade war.

The local palm oil sector is expected to face stiffer competition in India with the country’s Finance and Trade Ministries considering raising the palm oil duty from Malaysia to 50% from 45%.

Malaysian palm oil futures recovered from early losses to trade slightly lower on Thursday as stronger trends in the vegetable oil market aided sentiment.

There's some good news about the survival rates of orangutans in protected forests on the Malaysian island of Borneo.

Palm oil is big business! It is found in around half of all items on supermarket shelves, from margarine to lipstick. But some people refuse to buy products containing it. Why? What are the issues and should we all be avoiding it?

In March 2018, India raised the import tax on crude palm oil to 44% from 30% and hiked the tax on refined palm oil to 54% from 40%. The fourth increase in import tax in less than 6 months – the highest level in more than a decade – was to protect the country’s local rapeseed crop. India imports palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

Malaysian palm oil futures recovered from early losses to close only slightly lower on Thursday, aided by improving trends in the broader vegetable oil market.

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained in the red in mid-afternoon trade, weighed down by continued selling of shares in Petronas Chemicals (PetChem) following its downgrade by Citi on Tuesday.

China is calling on its people to reduce their intake of edible oils, sugar and salt as part of a nationwide campaign to minimize health risks. The country is the world’s top consumer of soybean oil, processed from imported beans, and the biggest user of sugar after India.

Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil exporter, is ready with countermeasures if the European Union (EU) goes ahead with plans to restrict the use of palm oil in biofuels.

Orangutan populations in forest patches found in oil palm estates in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah fell as much as 30 per cent in 15 years, but the overall population of the species in the area is stable, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said.

Indonesian Palm Oil Businessmen Association (GAPKI) General Chairman Joko Supriyanto affirmed that the association, representing the palm oil industry players, fully supported the result of the Palm Oil Producing Countries' (CPOPC's) meeting.