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Middle East conflict boosts demand for alternative fuels
CPO Futures Close Lower Amid Weaker Crude Oil, Soybean Oil Prices
Can palm biodiesel provide quick relief for Malaysia amid Iran war?
Malaysia plans phased expansion of biodiesel programme, minister says
Philippines coconut oil price seen at $445 per ton
KUALA LUMPUR (March 19 2003) : Coconut oil prices may rise to an averageof $445 a tonne this year FOB Philippines, up nearly 20 percent from lastyear because of falling output from the world's largest producer, anindustry source said on Tuesday.
Argentina to send team to China to talk soya sales
BUENOS AIRES (March 18 2003) - Argentina's foreign minister plans to heada mission to China in April to talk about potential obstacles to tradingsoya with the Asian giant, its biggest soya buyer, a ministry officialsaid.
Brazil soya harvest seen at 20 percent as of March
SAO PAULO (March 18 2003) - Farmers harvested 20 percent of Brazil'srecord soya crop as of Friday, compared with 26 percent last year at thattime, grains analysts Celeres/MPrado said on Monday.
Half of ghee units closed due to oil tankers strik
ISLAMABAD (March 18 2003) : Oil truck owners' strike has resulted insuspension of palm oil supply to ghee industries across the country,leaving half of them closed, and industrialists apprehended that the restmight follow suit if the situation remained unchanged for a few more days.
Indian vegetable oil demand down, palm oil futures
KUALA LUMPUR (March 18 2003) - Edible oil imports by India, the world'sbiggest consumer of the commodity, are likely to fall 10 percent to450,000 tonnes in April after purchasing enough palm oil and soyaoil inMarch, traders said on Monday.
Ukraine sunseed exports fall to 24,800 tonnes
KIEV (March 18 2003) - Ukraine, which harvested 3.3 million tonnes ofsunflower seeds in 2002, saw its sunseed exports fall to 24,800 tonnes inFebruary from 50,000 tonnes in January, producers said on Monday.
World crop dims soybean price outlook
Southeast Farm Press (3/12/2003) - Despite very tight stocks, robustprospects for use and exports, and an expected decline in U.S. plantingsthis year, soybean prices for 2003 are projected at $5.10 per bushel,"below what we would have expected based on historical data," says PeterRiley, agricultural economist for USDA's Farm Services Agency.
Argentine soya crop developing normally, rains con
BUENOS AIRES (16 March 2003) - The 2002/03 soya crop is developingnormally in Argentina, the world's No 3 producer, but a government weatherspecialist said on Friday that worries persist that rains in the comingweeks will delay the harvest and threaten quality.
Guthrie workers demonstrate over eviction
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14: Some 100 Guthrie workers of Ladang Changkat Salakand Ladang Kamiri, Sg Siput (U), Perak today demonstrated outside MenaraCitibank in Jalan Ampang over their impending eviction on April 1.On being told that Guthrie Chairman Tan Sri Musa Hitam was away, theybecame agitated and started holding up banners and placards about 10.45am.The demonstration drew a huge crowd slowing down traffic.Within 20 minutes, a team of police officers and men in two patrol carsand a mobile unit arrived at the scene to control the crowd. However, thedemonstrators refused to disperse until they saw Musa or hisrepresentative.The workers eventually handed over a memorandum to Guthrie publicrelations manager Datin Nooraizam Aljeffri.Nooraizam told the workers that Musa had agreed to a dialogue with them assoon as he returned from abroad in two weeks time.Workers V. Govindasamy, 46 and S. Munusamy, 52, handed the memorandum toNooraizam on two conditions - the meeting should be held as soon as Musareturned and that the cas scheduled to be heard on April 2 at the IpohHigh Court be postponed to a later date.They also wanted that notice to vacate the estate quarters by April 1 tobe deferred.Nooraizam later told reporters that the company would try to defer thenotice to vacate homes besides trying to postpone the case at the IpohHigh Court.In 1999, some 55 rubber tappers in Ladang Kamiri and another 110 at LadangChangkat Salak lost their jobs when Guthrie decided to replace rubbertrees with oil palm trees.The company stopped the services of the workers on Dec 31, 1999 andoffered them 20 days wages per year of service in compensation.Workers who had served 25 years would receive between RM8,000 and RM9,000each.This, according to the workers, was unreasonable as their families hadbeen working in the estates for three generations.
