Berita Arkib

18 September, 2002 (Business Times) - THE Primary Industries Ministryhopes the Government will allocate funds for research and development (Rand D) in the commodity sector in Budget 2003.

SEGAMAT, 14/09/02 (Berita Harian) – Peneroka tanah rancangan Felda didaerah ini, mula lega berikutan pendapatan hasil jualan sawit dan getahlebih tinggi berbanding ketika negara dilanda kegawatan ekonomi lima tahunlalu.

28/8/02 (Europe Intelligence Wire): The agribusiness holding Yug Rusi, onof the main operators on the Russian market for vegetable and sunfloweroils, is looking to increase its sales by 10% to 15% on the strength ofnew sales policy, a holding press release says.The company intends to cut business ties with a majority of its Moscowdistributors, in particular one of the biggest - Bonus - which does 17% ofoverall sales for the agri-union. "The fate of Bonus will be shared by atleast six of eleven [Moscow] distributors", the release says.As marketing director for the trading house Yug Rusi Alexei Skorbovenkoexplained to Interfax, the changes being made to company sales policyreflect market difficulties. Russian producers, he said, had to increasesunflower prices due to last year's poor harvest, while foreign producers"literally flooded Russia with bottled oil." In these circumstances, YugRusi has decided to lower prices on its vegetable oil in order to "win byincreasing sales," he said.Since this year began, the agri-union has reduced its vegetable oil pricesby 12%, but Bonus and other Moscow distributors oversold it in otherregions, interfering in the work of the producer's local dealers,Skorbovenko said.Yug Rusi has near-future plans to leave in each federal district at leasttwo representative companies that will acquire oil 100% pre-paid. Salespolicy will be aimed at working with small and mid-sized wholesalers, aswell as with wholesalers that have the ability to do product shipment,which will allow for cutting product's trip to the end consumer andlowering its price, he said.Yug Rusi's oil extraction plant produces 87 million liters of bottledvegetable oil in the first half of this year, 180% more year-on- year. Theholding comprises sixteen agricultural product producers in the Rostovregion and Krasnodar territory. Various experts put the market share ofthe company's 'Zolotaya Semechka brand oil at from 20% to 30% of Russia'smarket for bottled vegetable oil.

KOTA KINABALU, 18/9/02: Hubungan perdagangan antara Sabah dengan selatanFilipina terutama menerusi konsep Kawasan Pertumbuhan Asean Timur-Brunei,Indonesia, Malaysia dan Filipina (BIMP-EAGA) tidak terjejas oleh pelbagaiisu membabitkan pendatang tanpa izin Filipina di Sabah, baru-baru ini.Ketua Menteri, Datuk Chong Kah Kiat, berkata hubungan perdagangan terutamaantara kawasan Sandakan, Sabah, dengan Zamboanga di Mindanao, Filipina,akan diteruskan seperti biasa.“Malah, kedua-dua pihak juga bersetuju mempertingkatkan lagi hubungandagangan sedia ada terutama menerusi BIMP-EAGA.“Antara usaha terbaru dibuat ialah merancang mengadakan ekspo perdagangandi Sandakan membabitkan usahawan dari kedua-dua wilayah itu,” katanya.Beliau bercakap kepada pemberita selepas mengadakan pertemuan kira-kirasejam dengan Perunding Kanan Presiden untuk Mindanao yang juga Utusan KhasFilipina ke Malaysia, Indonesia dan Brunei, Paul G Dominguez, di HotelPacific Sutera, di sini hari ini.Sebelum ini, hubungan antara Malaysia dan Filipina agak tegang berikutandakwaan media Filipina kononnya pendatang tanpa izin negara itu di Sabahdiberi layanan buruk, terutama ketika ditahan di pusat tahanan sementaradi negeri ini.Kemudian timbul pula dakwaan seorang gadis Filipina dirogol ketika ditahandi pusat tahanan sementara di Menggatal, dekat sini serta usaha pihaktertentu di negara itu mahu membangkitkan semula isu tuntutan Filipinaterhadap Sabah.Terdahulu Chong merasmikan Persidangan Antarabangsa Perniagaan Sabah 2002(SIE2002) anjuran Dewan Perniagaan Antarabangsa dan Industri Malaysia(MICCI) dan Persekutuan Pekilang Sabah (FSM) di hotel yang sama hari ini.Dalam ucapan perasmiannya, Chong berkata, kerajaan negeri mahu memastikanpelabur luar melihat Sabah sebagai kawasan pelaburan baru serta berpotensibesar, terutama apabila konsep Kawasan Perdagangan Bebas Asean (Afta)mulai dilaksanakan tahun depan.Sehubungan itu, katanya, kerajaan Sabah akan terus berfungsi sebagaikerajaan yang mesra perniagaan kerana percaya sektor swasta berperananpenting dalam memperluas kekayaan ekonomi dan pembangunan di negeri ini.Beliau berkata, banyak dasar kerajaan negeri sekarang lebih menjuruskepada usaha mewujudkan iklim yang sesuai untuk aktiviti keusahawanan.Selain itu, katanya, kerajaan negeri turut menyediakan pelbagai insentifuntuk beberapa bentuk pelaburan seperti pegangan hak milik tanah selama 99tahun, pengurangan premium tanah sehingga 30 peratus, pengurangan sewabebas antara satu hingga tiga peratus serta potongan dua kali bagi cajpengangkutan eksport produk perkayuan.“Berdasarkan struktur ekonomi dan kaedah perdagangan, secara umumnya Sabahmenawarkan peluang pelaburan luas, terutama dalam sektor pertanian danmakanan, produk semula jadi khusus, perladangan industri, perhutanan, gasasli, minyak dan bahan galian, pelancongan, teknologi maklumat sertaperkapalan dan maritim,” katanya.Beliau juga berkata, dalam tempoh enam bulan pertama tahun ini, Sabahmencatatkan lebihan imbangan perdagangan yang sihat, iaitu RM1.393 bilion,peningkatan 27 peratus berbanding tempoh sama tahun lalu.Katanya, negeri ini mengamalkan sistem perdagangan terbuka dengan eksportperkhidmatan dan barangan menyumbang 75 peratus kepada Keluaran DalamNegara Kasar (KDNK) Sabah.Chong berkata, pertumbuhan KDNK Sabah dianggarkan pada tahap empat peratustahun ini dan dijangka berterusan sehingga tahun depan dengan kadarinflasi dikawal di bawah paras 0.5 peratus.“Ketika ini, ekonomi Sabah berorientasikan eksport dan dikuasai olehsektor utama dengan produk sawit menjadi komoditi utama apabila menyumbanglebih 30 peratus daripada perolehan eksport negeri ini,” katanya.

(Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News) Sep. 11--WAVERLY, Iowa--Anearth-friendly alternative to petroleum-based transformer oils may begoing global.BioTrans may be more widely available to electric utilities because of acollaboration linking Cargill Industrial Oils and Lubricants, WaverlyLight and Power and the Electric Research and Manufacturing Cooperative.WL & P General Manager Glenn Cannon said Tuesday Cargill has purchased thepatent for the soy-based oil used in electrical transformers and relatedproducts. The product was developed at by the University of NorthernIowa's Ag-Based Industrial Lubricants research program."The best way to put this is that it is a win, win, win situation," Cannonsaid. "Everybody benefits from this."Cargill will manufacture a line of bio-based lubricants sold under theBioTrans brand name. ERMCO, which has exclusive rights to market BioTransfluid in Canada, Mexico and the United States, plans to off the fluid inits electrical transformers.Cargill is the largest privately owned company in the world and the secondlargest employer in the state of Iowa. Because Cargill has a worldwidemarketing base, BioTrans is getting attention.It's for good reason, according to Kurtis Miller, head of CargillIndustrial Oils and Lubricants."Many applications are near water and other sensitive settings," Millersaid."Utilities will use environmentally sound products, so long as theyperform.BioTrans oil is high performing and earth-friendly --- a perfectcombination."Cannon said BioTrans is a good choice. The oil is also considered saferthan petroleum-based solutions because of its high fire and flash-pointtemperature, low gas emission and energy efficiencies."BioTrans is readily biodegradable and it is also non-toxic," he said."BioTrans also increases the life of a transformer because it does notlose as much energy," Cannon said.Mineral oils can also be replaced by BioTrans in certain applications."This is a great use for Iowa grown crops and it is great for the localeconomy," Cannon said.Cannon said the product could mean big business for soybean producers."In the United States annually there are 40 million gallons of oil used intransformers," he said. "This is a good deal for Iowa farmers."

18 September, 2002 (Business Times) - BRITISH-Dutch food and consumerproducts giant Unilever Plc NV is putting its Malaysian oil palm estates,totalling 21,700ha, on the block. They should fetch at least RM500million.

Thursday, September 12, 2002 (The Star) - SUNGAI PETANI: Re-trenchedestate workers in Kedah will be entitled to housing from now on, saidstate Health, Unity, Social Welfare and Indian Affairs committee chairmanDatuk V. Saravanan.He said the decision was made at a meeting with Malaysian Agricultural andPlantation Association and Malaysian Palm Oil Association on Tuesday.The two associations had agreed to the state government’s proposal to havethe respective estate managements build houses for affected workers orprovide suitable land for the state to build them, he said.The two associations, he said, would finalise details with theirrespective headquarters before attending another meeting on Oct 10 to sortout the housing projects.“We will discuss with all quarters, including government departments, tosort out ways to build houses for affected workers,’’ he added.The Estate Workers Housing Committee, a special committee formed recentlyand chaired by state Human Resources Committee chairman Osman Md Aji, ishandling the matter.He said more than 1,000 estate workers were retrenched by the respectivemanagements and evicted since 1999 following their decision to replantrubber estates with oil palm.“The workers have been slogging for years and it is time their sacrificesare recognised,” he said.He was commenting on initiatives to address the housing problems ofretrenched estate workers in Kedah.Saravanan, who is also Estate Workers Housing committee deputy chairmanand state MIC chairman, said there were 30 estate managements in Kedahmanaging 45 rubber estates and oil palm plantations.Commending the state’s efforts to resolve the longstanding housing problemof estate workers, Kedah/Perlis National Union of Plantation Workerssecretary I. Santha-nadass said hundreds of retrenched rubber estateworkers were now odd job labourers.

Nidhi Nath Srinavas 09/11/2002( Asia Intelligence Wire) - The one thingthey now need is a painkiller. Caught between a complete governmentclamp-down on underinvoicing and a zooming international market, all soyaoil brands in India have raised prices in the last two weeks. But theagony, some say, is just beginning.Leading brands like the Adani group's Fortune, in fact, are planning tofurther increase prices in the coming weeks to pass on to consumers somemore of the rise in crude oil prices.Fortune has already raised the price charged to retailer from Rs 37/l amonth ago, to Rs 43/l. Its MRP has risen from Rs 47 to Rs 49/l. Otherslike Cargill's Nature Fresh have raised the MRP from Rs 48/l to Rs 52/l inthe last three weeks.Even the price of soya oil blends have shot up. Marico's Sweekar blend hasrisen from Rs 58 to Rs 63. AgroTch Foods' Sundrop Nutrilite has risen fromRs 52 to Rs 59.Though international markets have always been bullish, the rise has beenparticularly steep in the last one month, when they shot up $450/t to$510/t now.Usually, companies which have contracted their oil in advance stand togain substantially in such a situation as they can sell at far more thanlanded price.But this opportunity was lost when the government clamped down on rampantunderinvoicing by introducing a tariff value on soya oil. Consequently,irrespective of the price at which the oil is contracted, all importershave to pay a duty on a government-determined price of $542/t."The impact of the tariff value has been Rs 2.50/l, while that of risingworld markets another Rs 2/l. But no brand can afford to pass on the totalincrease of Rs 4.50/l at one go. So after this Rs 2/l hike, another one isdefinitely on the cards very soon. But the worst hit are those who wereunderinvoicing, because they now have to pay higher duty to customs thanthe rest," industry watchers said.Most branded players are happy with the imposition of tariff value on soyaas it removes players which were undercutting the market. The governmentfirst imposed a tariff value last year on palm oil and its products toprevent underinvoicing."Obviously the government was not strict enough with those caughtunderinvoicing palm oil last year because the same players were now doingit in soya. Hopefully, action taken by the DRI will be so stringent thisyear that no company will attempt to risk it again," they added.

9/9/2002 (U.S. Patents) - Abstract: This invention provides methods ofinfusing compositions including phytochemicals, nutraceuticals such asvitamins, herbal extracts, and medicinals into food products, including,e.g., juices, fruits, vegetables, and meats, etc. The resulting infusedfood products are consumable products which are helpful in alleviatingdietary insufficiency and/or to prevent or treat diseases such as cancer,heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, etc.Ex Claim Text: A method of infusing a phytochemical, nutraceutical,flavor, or color composition into a food product, the method comprising:a. increasing brix of an osmotic dehydration solution comprising anosmotic dehydration solute and the food product over a period of time,wherein increasing brix is carried out by adding osmotic dehydrationsolute to the osmotic dehydration solution, replacing at least part of theosmotic dehydration solution, or a combination thereof, and b. incubatingthe food product with the phytochemical, nutraceutical, flavor, or colorcomposition, thereby infusing the composition into the food product.Patent Number: 6440449Issue Date: 2002 08 27If you would like to purchase a copy of this patent, please callMicroPatent at 800-648-6787.Inventor(s): Hirschberg, Edward

Thursday, September 12, 2002 (The Star) - THE Malaysian Palm Oil PromotionCouncil (MPOPC) plans to set up palm oil distribution centres in Africa,Central Asia and Eastern Europe to boost palm oil exports and establishnew markets in the respective regions, according to its regional marketcommittee chairman Victor Ngo.“We are in the process of identifying suitable locations for such centres,’’ Ngo told reporters after a seminar held in conjunction with the Palm OilTrade Awareness Programme (POTAP) 2002 – Africa, Central Asia and EasternEuropean in Petaling Jaya yesterday.He mentioned port cities such as Durban in South Africa, Mombassa inKenya, Dar-e-Salam in Tanzania and Odessa in the Ukraine as potentialsites to be developed as centralised hubs for Malaysian palm oil exports.“It’s more economical to send one big shipment from Malaysia to a singlepoint before distributing it to small buyers in the region,’’ Ngo said.Last year, Malaysian palm oil exports to the African continent and easternEuropean countries amounted to about half a million tonnes and 300,000respectively.Exports to South Africa reached 163,600 tonnes, Algeria 82,000 tonnes andNigeria 78,700 tonnes.Meanwhile, Ukraine bought 68,500 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil last yearand Russia 113,700 tonnes.“We have the potential to triple the amount within the next few years,’’Ngo said.The 5-day event organised by the MPOPC was to provide information on theMalaysian palm oil industry with special focus given to developing newmarkets for its products.Malaysia’s palm oil production this year is expected to reach 11.6 milliontonnes, of which 90% is exported.India, China and Pakistan account for a combined 40% of Malaysia’s totalpalm oil exports.With production both from Malaysia and Indonesia, the two biggest palm oilproducers in the world, set to rise further in the future, there is a needto develop new markets for palm oil products.

09/06/2002 (Asia Intelligence Wire) - Three new products from coconut oilwere recently developed by researchers attached with the Department ofScience and Technology.Researchers from the National Institute of Molecular Biology andBiotechnology (Biotech) based at the University of the Philippines LosBanos used the enzyme lipase to develop high-value specialty fats, flavoresters, and antibacterial agents from coconut oil.Lipase, an enzyme that accelerates the hydrolysis or synthesis of fats,was used to catalyze coconut oil and turn it into the specialty fat calledmedium chain triglyceride (MCT).Aside from its lower calorie content, MCT is also easily absorbed by thebody and it is also quickly used up as energy and does not stay as bodyfat.Biotech also developed beta monoglyceride (BMG), an antibacterial agentused to protect fruit and vegetables from bacterial infection, andpreserve their color, odor and firmness for up to two weeks.DoST said BMG fights bacteria that causes diarrhea and gastrointestinaldiseases without adverse side effects.The research team also developed coconut oil-derived flavor esters likebanana-flavored isoamyl acetate and pineapple-flavored ethyl butyrate.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysian businesses and investors mustfully exploit China's "Go-West" policy which aims to develop Western Chinaas it would create immense trade and investment opportunities, theMinister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz,said Tuesday.To help Malaysian companies in this, MITI will organise a trade andinvestment mission to Xi'an and Chongqing in Western China as well asShanghai from Sept 22-29.