Berita Arkib

SAO PAULO (September 22 2004): Sales of Brazil's new crop soyabeans arebehind schedule as producers continue to hold on to stocks in hopes ofbetter international prices, grain analysts Celeres said on Monday.

20/09/04 LONDON (Dow Jones)--Brazil's soy crushers are concerned newChinese soyoil import rules on hexane levels will be used to curb boomingexports.Exports from the world's No. 2 soy exporter to China soared 182% to554,000 metric tons in the first seven months of 2004. But from nextmonth, Chinese soyoil imports can have no more than 100 parts per millionof hexane in unrefined soyoil, much higher than the industry standardthreshold of 600 parts."They could use these new restrictions to cool down exports," saidCesar de Sousa Borges, vice president of the Brazilian Vegetable oilIndustries Association, or Abiove.He said the new rules are part of a strategy to limit soymeal andsoyoil exports to nurture the expansion of the local crushing industry.Hexane is a derivative of petroleum used to extract soyoil. Producersalready make every effort to recover hexane and the threshold doesn't makeany sense, said Borges.

BEIJING, Sept 20 Asia Pulse - China's domestic edible oil supply will beabout 20 million tons this year while domestic consumption will hoveraround 17 million tons, according to a forecast made by the Ministry ofCommerce.

9/20/2004 Agra Europe - A surprisingly conservative assessment ofBrazilian 2005 soyabean production prospects gave added zest to thebullish, weather-driven Chicago market this week. However, the recovery insoyabean and product prices from recent lows was partly checked by markettalk that demand, especially from China, could be over-rated too.

Tuesday September 21, 2004 - OIL palm fronds (OPF) fibre feed has thepotential to be a RM10bil industry and can help provide additional incomeof between RM150 and RM250 per month to Felda settlers.

Tuesday September 21, 2004 - THE Felda group has identified integratedfarming, timber production and commercialised tree planting as three newgrowth areas into which it is venturing as part of its efforts to maximisethe use of its vast plantation assets in the country.

NEW DELHI, Sept 20 Asia Pulse - The edible oil industry has demanded animmediate cut in the base price on which import duty is levied on edibleoils to curb inflation which is at a four-year high of 8.33 per cent.

17/09/04 JAKARTA (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's PT Astra Agro Lestari Fridaysaid its crude palm oil exports more than doubled in the first eightmonths of this year on the back of robust production.CPO exports totaled 231,672 metric tons in the January-August period,up sharply from 100,604 tons in the same period last year.The company said increased CPO production at its plantations hadenabled it to meet rising demand from foreign buyers."Our oil palm trees have entered the prime production age of anaverage of 10 years. We have more CPO to meet increasing export demand,"said Tjahyo Dwi Ariantono, the company official for investor relations.Oil palm trees reach their maximum output of fruit, from which palmoil is made, between their ninth and 15th year.PT Astra sells palm oil mostly to buyers in India, Malaysia, Vietnamand the Netherlands.Tjahyo said the company's total sales volume rose to 463,622 tons inthe first eight months of this year from 343,309 tons in the same periodlast year.CPO production during that period totaled 508,064 tons, up 33% from382,081 tons a year earlier, he said.The company is on track to reach its production target of 750,000 tonsfor this year, Tjahyo said. Last year, the company produced 633,425 tonsof CPO.Between 40% and 45% of the company's annual output is exported."We expect production to grow by 15% next year as more oil palm treesreach production maturity," Tjahyo said.To increase CPO production, he said, the company plans to expand itsplantation area by 5,000 hectares every year, adding to an existing191,600 hectares"We have up to 20,000 hectares of land that we haven't planted withoil palm. We will plant the area within the next four years," Tjahyo said.A greater supply of high-quality oil palm seeds will help support theexpansion plan, he said.The Ministry of Agriculture has said that the number of companiessupplying high-quality seeds doubled to six this year.PT Astra said its average price realization from CPO sales improved to3,899 rupiah ($1=IDR9,025) a kilogram in the first eight months fromIDR3,333/kg a year earlier as result of higher world CPO and soybean oilprices.World CPO prices during the same period have risen 11% to $492 a ton,while those for soybean oil are up 15.9% at $624/ton, the company said.Indonesia is the second-largest producer of CPO after Malaysia, withproduction expected to reach 11 million tons this year.Earlier this week, the government said it expects Indonesian CPOproduction to reach 12 million tons next year, matching production inMalaysia for the first time. The area under cultivation in Indonesia hasbeenincreasing steadily in recent years, while Malaysia has faced a shortageof land to expand acreage. Much of the increase in Malaysian production inrecent years has been achieved through more efficient practices that haveproduced higher yields.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Sept 20 Asia Pulse - The Sarangani governor said theyare expecting the visit next month of investors from neighboring Sabah ledby the Malaysian industry minister.

20/09/04 BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--The Thai government is working on ways tostop palm oil smuggling from Malaysia and to help Thai farmers who havebeen hurt by the smuggling, Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook said lateMonday.A government's committee will propose measures at a meeting scheduledin the next two weeks, he said.Crude palm oil smuggled from neighboring Malaysia is considerablycheaper than domestic supplies, encouraging local users to engage insmuggling, the minister said.Smuggled crude palm oil is priced around 18-19 baht ($1=THB41.280) akilogram, plus a transportation cost of around THB2/kg, while domesticcrude palm oil prices in the Thai market are THB27-THB28/kg, he said.Watana said he couldn't say how much crude palm oil is being smuggled.The smuggling of crude palm oil has been weighing on local prices forpalm fruit, which are currently around THB3.60-THB4.10/kg, down fromaround THB4.10-THB4.25/kg earlier in the month, he said.

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India's edible oil prices closed lower in theweek to Friday, following the government's cut in tariff values forimported edible oil.Tariff values are fixed prices which are used to calculate the importduty on edible oils. Tariff values are changed whenever internationalprices hover 10% above or below the tariff value.But while international palm oil and soyoil prices had fallen by morethan 10% in the past three to four months, the government continued to putoff cutting the tariff values.However, as the country's inflation started rising sharply over thepast several weeks, the federal Cabinet met Wednesday night, after whichFinance Minister P Chidambaram announced the cut in tariff values.The value for crude palm oil was cut to $454 a metric ton from$504/ton, RBD palm oil to $489/ton from $543/ton, palm oil to $471/tonfrom $523/ton, crude palm olein to $479/ton from $532/ton, RBD palm oleinto $497/ton from $552/ton, palm olein to $488/ton from $542/ton and crudesoyoil to $565/ton from $628/ton."The market expectedly reacted sharply to the cut in tariff values andfell sharply from Wednesday to Friday," said a trader in Delhi.The government also said Friday the tariff value cut has been able tocheck the rise in prices of edible oil.Traders said another impact of the cut in tariff values would beincreasing edible oil supplies in the country.Until Wednesday, a number of traders who imported edible oils had kepttheir stocks in the ports, anticipating a cut in tariff values, whichwould lower their import duty burden."Around 500,000 tons of edible oil stock will now pour in from marketsto the consuming centers," said a trader in Ahmedabad.Traders said while the increased supply and lower tariff values shouldlogically lead to a fall in prices for the next few weeks, increaseddemand for edible oils in the current festival season may cushion oilprices fromfalling too low.India's Hindu festival season began this month and will extend toNovember. Since all Hindu festivals are accompanied by community andfamily feasts, it increases the consumption of oils.Traders added that another area of concern for the market is the likelysize of the summer-sown oilseeds harvest.Scanty rains in July and low rains so far in September are thought tohave damaged the oilseeds crop, though the extent of damage is unknown sofar.Traders say if industry and government estimates predict a loweroilseeds harvest, it may lead to a rise in prices. India's AgricultureMinistry will present its initial estimates of the oilseeds harvestSaturday evening.India's oilseeds crop was sown from June to early September and will beharvested in October and November.Friday, refined palm oil was at 40,500 rupees ($1=INR45.90) comparedwith INR43,500/ton last week. Soyoil was at INR42,500/ton compared withINR44,200/ton.

BAGAN SERAI, Sept 18 (Bernama) -- By 2010, 40 percent of Malaysia's meatproduction is expected to come from integrated rearing, 30 percent fromfeedlots and the balance by traditional methods.Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassinsaid the integrated rearing system was expected to cover one millionhectares of oil palm and rubber estates nationwide and involve 256,000cattle.It was expected to produce 14,200 tonnes of meat annually, he saidafter launching the Veterinary Services Department's Rapid Diagnostic TestKit at Bukit Merah Laketown, here, today.He said the system, introduced in Felda, Felcra and Risda estates aswell as estates belonging to Permodalan Nasional Berhad, was found to besuccessful but had yet to be expanded."Integrated rearing will not only help provide additional earning, butmore importantly, when palm oil and rubber prices fall to their lowestlevel, income from animal rearing can help the farmers," he said.Muhyiddin said the rearing industry had big potential as, currently,Malaysia had to import a huge amount of meat and mutton to fulfill localneeds unlike in the chicken sector where local production was able to meetdemand.However, several factors such as the high cost of animal feeds hadaffected efforts to expand the breeding industry, he said.He said the Cabinet had directed the ministry to find ways to reduceimports of animal feeds which was worth almost RM1.8 billion."At present, a large portion of animal feeds is imported and they aremostly corn for chickens. We are trying to find substitutes for theimports," he added.-- BERNAMA