Berita Arkib

Friday May 14, 2004PPB Oil Palms Bhd is eyeing the acquisition of an additional 30,000ha inIndonesia, especially in Central Kalimantan, this year as part of anongoing expansion of its oil palm plantation, said executive chairman TanYew Jin.

MANILA, May 19 Asia Pulse - Trade officials said the government willsupport the proposed scrapping of a 15-percent tariff on palm olein tostem the rising price of cooking oil. Department of Trade and IndustryUndersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. said the DTI is supporting a proposalfrom various industry groups to import pork, chicken, flour and palm oleina substitute for coconut oil to stabilize the price of these products inthe local market.

WHAT IS SOYBEAN RUST

12 May, 2004 - MALAYSIA’S oil palm companies, already raking in hugeearnings, are looking to further increase returns by using satellitetechnology and remote sensing on their plantations.

17 May, 2004 - MALAYSIA’S commodity sector is set to remain strong for therest of the year, supported by increased demand and tightness in supplies.

Chicago, May 13 (OsterDowJones) - World total oilseed production for2003/04 was reduced 2.5 million tons to 335.8 million tons in May.Forecast global soybean production was reduced 3.4 million tons to 190.1million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday in its"Oilseeds: Situationand Outlook Report."Brazil's 2003/04 soybean production forecast was reduced an additional2.5 million tons this month to 53.5 million tons. Dry growing conditionsin Brazil's southern production regions continue to impact yields andreduced the year-to-year growth in soybean production to only 1.0 milliontons. This is significantly below the average annual growth rate of 6.1million tons experienced between 1999/2000 and 2002/03, the USDA said.Argentina's soybean production forecast was also reduced this month inresponse to the earlier dry conditions. Production is forecast to reach34.0 million tons, down 1.0 million tons from the April estimate andbrings forecast production below last season's record of 35.5 milliontons. Bucking the trend for reduced South American production estimatesthis month, Uruguay's soybean production forecast was increased 170,000tons to 520,000 tons. Higher grower returns prompted a nearly 8-foldincrease in Uruguay's soybean production since 2002.Due to lower supplies, both soybean export and crush forecasts werereduced this month. World soybean export volume is now expected to fallbelow the 2002/03 level, reaching 61.9 million tons or 800,000 tons belowlast month's forecast. Crush was also reduced 1.4 million tons in May to171.5 million tons. This remains a healthy increase over 2002/03 andreflects increased crush in South America and China. Soybean crush inEurope declined slightly for 2003/04, while U.S. crush was unchanged inMay, remaining nearly 4.0 million tons below the 2002/03 crush due to thereduced 2003 harvest. Soybean stocks will also be lower in 2003/04 due tothe decline in soybean production. Stocks are forecast to reach 31.7million tons this year, down 1.3 million tons from the April forecast, thereport said.Partially offsetting declines in soybean production in May wereincreases in rapeseed and cottonseed production forecasts. India'srapeseed and cottonseed production forecasts were raised this month.Rapeseed production was also increased for the EU but in this casereflects the move to an EU-25 accounting and the inclusion of additionalproduction data for some of the acceding member states that was previouslyunreported.The global meal production forecast for May was reduced 543,000 tonsto 196.9 million tons. Soybean meal production was lowered nearly 1.2million tons due to the reduced South American soybean supply situation.Increasedrapeseed meal and cottonseed meal production in India and elsewhere, alongwith an increase in sunflowerseed meal production helped offset some ofthe decline in meal production. The global vegetable oil productionforecast declined 93,000 tons in May as lower soybean oil production wasmostly offset by increased rapeseed oil production. Forecast vegetableoil exports are reduced 725,000 ton in response to lower palm oil andsoybean oil trade.U.S. oilseed production for 2004/05 is forecast at 90.2 million tons,up 19 percent from 2003/04. Soybean production will account for most ofthe increase, rising 23 percent to a record 80.7 million tons. Other U.S.oilseed production is expected to decline marginally in 2004/05 based onfarmer planting intentions and trend yields, the USDA said.U.S. soybean exports are projected to reach a record 29.4 million tonsin 2004/05. The short South American crop in 2004 will result in reducedcompetition from Argentina and Brazil this fall that will help boost thepace of U.S. exports. Soybean crush in the U.S. is expected to rebound to45.3 million tons in 2004/05. This would place crush at the secondhighest level on record, and reflects the expected improved supplysituation and lower prices. Exports of soybean meal and oil are alsoforecast to rebound from depressed 2003/04 levels but will remain belowaverage. Domestic disappearance of both soybean meal and oil are forecastto recover in 2004/05 and reach near historic highs.

New Delhi, May 14 (Dow Jones) - India's edible oil prices fell in theweek to Friday tracking international prices and low domestic demand."The week was quite volatile with prices rising early in the week butlosing in the later half of the week as international markets turnedweak," said a trader.Traders added the market was currently well-supplied with oils andthere was not much appetite for more buying.The mustardseed arrivals too have slowed down to around 30,000 metrictons a day, but traders said that the arrivals may increase once electionsin India get over."Traditionally, market activities in India get disrupted onceelections loom on the horizon, since many traders may become active inpolitical activities, but after elections mustarseed arrivals may pick upagain," said a trader.India's national elections begun on April 20 and will conclude May 10.They are being conducted in several phases across the country.India's bumper mustardseed crop was harvested in April.Traders said that India's edible oil imports this month may rise toaround 350,000 tons after falling to around 230,000 tons in April.The markets are widely expected to trade flat to lower in the comingweek as soy oil and palm oil are not seen firming up much in theinternational markets.Friday, crude soy oil at Indian ports were $625/ton lower than$636/ton last week. Sunflower oil quoted $655/ton compared with $665/tonlast week.

Bangkok, May 13 (Dow Jones) - The following table shows Thailand's palmoil exports in the January-March period, compared with the same period ayear earlier. The figures are from the Office of Agricultural Economics attheMinistry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The quantity is in metric tons,and the value is in million baht ($1=THB40.488).

New Delhi, May 13 (Dow Jones)India's benchmark import price of palm oil was last revised Nov. 17,2003, while the price of crude soyoil was last revised March 3.India calculates import taxes on edible oils based on thesegovernment-set prices, called "tariff values," regardless of the actualimport price reported by importers. As a result, these tariff values havea big impact on edible oil prices in the local and overseas markets as achange in the tariff value effectively means a change in India's importtax.With palm oil prices steadily rising in the international market sinceNov. 17, 2003, any revision of the tariff value to reflect current marketprices would in effect lead to a higher tax on imported palm oil and couldtherefore be considered bearish for prices.India imports around 5 million tons of edible oils annually, and palmoil constitutes 74% of the total imports. "The government didn't want torisk (higher edible oil prices by a) revision of edible oil tariff valueswhen elections were round the corner. I think once a new government isformed, there will be a revision of these prices," said D.P. Khandelia,chairman of the Central Organization of Oil Industry and Trade, or COOIT.Similarly, grains exporters are awaiting a decision on exportsubsidies on rice and wheat once a new government is in office.India's wheat and rice exporters were, until August 2003, only allowedto source subsidized grains from the state-owned Food Corporation ofIndia. Starting Aug. 1, however, FCI abruptly stopped supplying grain toexporters amid concerns of falling national stocks.The federal government has since allowed exporters to buy grainsdirectly from farmers and had at that time promised a subsidy package tomake Indian rice and wheat competitive in the international market. Thatpackage is yet to be announced."Grain exports will pick up as soon as the government announces itssubsidy. However, in the current political scenario, no one expects asubsidy announcement before June," said Suresh Pandya, vice-president(exports) at Vishal Overseas, a major Indian exporter of grains.The lack of export subsidies has brought Indian grains exports to anear `halt, with only very small quantities exported over the past sixmonths.

05/13/04 - Dara Masih picks a can of ghee - clarified butter used forcooking - from a shop in one of Lahore's poorest districts as he lamentsthe higher cost of healthier vegetable cooking oil, which is out of reachfor Pakistan's lower-income families.

May 13, 2004 - GOLDEN HOPE Plantations Bhd (GHope) is gearing itself to bean integrated player in the plantation industry with equal focus onupstream and downstream activities.

JAKARTA, May 14 Asia Pulse - Indonesia hopes to expand exports of crudepalm oil (CPO) to South Korea.