JAKARTA, March 8 Asia Pulse - The Association of Palm Oil Companies(Gapki) predicted a surge in the price of crude palm oil (CPO) later thisyear with falling harvests of soybean in Brazil and the United States andgroundnut in India.

Long drought will also result in a decline in CPO supply from Indonesia,Gapki chairman Derom Bangun predicted.

Unfavorable weather caused a decline of 5 per cent-10 per cent in soybeanproduction in Brazil and the United States, Bangun said.

Signs of increase in price were shown last week with price in Rotterdaminched up from US$427.5 to US$430 per ton, he told the newspaper BisnisIndonesia yesterday

Last year, groundnut harvest failure caused a decline of 280,000 tons ingroundnut oil production in India that forced it to import an additionalsupply of 200,000-300,000 tons of palm oil, he said.

Last year India imported 1.8 million tons of CPO and derivatives fromIndonesia.

India, however, has announced an increase in its import duty on CPO from60 per cent to 80 per cent drawing protest from Indonesia. - (ANTARA)