Berita Arkib

Far East Expects To See Reduced FFB Production

CHINA WTO ENTRY SEEN BOOSTING SOYOIL IMPORTS

INDIA VEG OIL IMPORTS SEEN SURGING OVER DECADE

INDONESIA TO FORM TEAM TO SETTLE GUTHRIE DEAL- MEDIA

Iraq hopes to purchase palm oil directly from Malaysia

NON-FOOD VEG OIL USE TO CLIMD BY 70% BY 2010

PAKISTAN ADJUSTS IMPORT LEVIES ON EDIBLE OILS

Hospital uses soy-based fuel to face energy crisisLONG BEACH, Ca. 6/21/2001Fueled by concern over volatile energy costs androlling blackouts in California, officials from St. Mary Medical Center inLong Beach today announced the hospital has switched to biodiesel to runon-site generators and boilers.Biodiesel is a clean-burning fuel that can be made from any fat or oil,such as soybean oil. It can be used in any diesel engine with few or nomodifications to the engine necessary. Although biodiesel is used mostlyas a motor fuel for trucks and buses, it can be used in boilers andgenerators as well. About 80 major fleets, including transit authorities,school districts, government fleets and national parks use biodiesel. Itperforms comparably to diesel, with similar cetane and BTU content."We are very excited about the advantages this new fuel provides inresponding to our statewide energy crisis," said Tomi Hadfield, Presidentof St. Mary Medical Center. "This is very promising for our colleaguesfacing these same challenges."St. Mary expects a daily cost savings of $350 per day over an averagenatural gas price of $14.28 per decatherm. Moreover, the hospital can stayup and running during blackouts without emitting high levels of pollution."The biodiesel that our company is supplying to the hospital is mixed withan additive that significantly lowers NOx emissions," said Gene Gebolys,president of World Energy (www.worldenergy.net). "The emissions resultshave been certified by the South Coast Air Quality Management District,showing that it meets strict NOx requirements."Biodiesel also significantly reduces particulate matter, carbon monoxide,unburned hydrocarbons and sulfate emissions compared to petroleum diesel.A joint study by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department ofAgriculture shows biodiesel reduces life cycle carbon dioxide by 78percent. It is the only alternative fuel to have passed the rigorousHealth Effects testing requirements of the Clean Air Act. The results,submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2000, show biodieselis non-toxic, biodegradable and reduces air toxics by 90 percent.

I&P awaits approval to set up palm oil refineryThursday, June 21, 2001(The Star)- ISLAND and Peninsular Bhd (I&P) isseriously pursuing efforts to set up a palm oil refinery in Bintulu,Sarawak, and is currently waiting for approval from the state government.I&P managing director Dr Radzuan Abdul Rahman said the group would belooking at an investment of RM50mil, which he considered "a normalfigure."Radzuan told reporters this after the AGMs of I&P and its listedplantation arm Austral Enterprises Bhd in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.He said depending on how soon approval was obtained, it would take 18 to24 months to complete the refinery.Radzuan hopes the refinery could began operation by 2004 with a productioncapacity of 1,000 tonnes per day.According to Radzuan, the rationale for the proposed refinery is theincreasing volume of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) harvested by the group inSarawak.I&P, through Austral, has 36,542 ha of plantation landbank in Sarawak."As one of the pioneers and a major plantation player in Sarawak, we wouldsoon be harvesting a big crop from existing matured areas," Radzuan said.He said at present, there was only one buyer in Sarawak, which meant thatthe group was just "a price taker.""We are turning the tables to become a refiner instead of a price taker,"he said.Radzuan said that the group had enough FFB volume and other sources ofcrop nearby to justify the refinery.For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2001, Austral recorded FFB productionof 580,469 tonnes and palm oil production of 102,984 tonnes.Radzuan said that I&P would soon be opening a RM23mil oil palm mill inDerawan, Bintulu.On the group's 1st quarter performance for the current financial year,Radzuan said that despite the soft property market and depressing palm oilprices, the company managed to pull through "quite nicely.""We have always been in the black and never seen red in the past whileother property or plantation companies might be hovering between the blackand the red," he said.The group, he said, was still optimistic about achieving RM1bil turnoverby 2005."The growth target is still within reach, supported by consolidation ofour existing business and additional income from new enterprises," hesaid.According to Radzuan, the core property and plantation businesses wouldremain as the group's major contributors while trading is poised to be thekey third business entity.For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2001, I&P's pre-tax profit was halvedto RM65mil on the back of RM362mil turnover. This was achieved on the backof sales of 829 units, mostly at its flagship development project BandarKinrara and FFB production of 580,469 tonnes at an average selling priceof RM961 per tonne.

Malaysian palm oil promotion seeks to increase demand in AfricaKuala Lumpur, (Business Times) 6/20/2001-The east African nation ofDjibouti is set to become the latest signatory of the Palm Oil CreditPayment Arrangement (POCPA) scheme, with the republic expected to sign theagreement with Malaysia within this year. Its ambassador to Malaysia,Japan, South Korea and Singapore Rachad Farah said Djibouti is seeking aUS$5 million (US$1 = RM3.80) loan to buy palm oil from Malaysia under thescheme."We will be submitting the proposal to the Primary Industries Ministry,with certain amendments to suit to our needs. We have finalised theamendments to the proposal," he told Business Times in an interview inKuala Lumpur. Rachad, who is based in Tokyo, was on a one-week visit toMalaysia since June 11.Rachad said he will submit the proposal to the Primary Industries Ministrysoon. "They (Primary Industries Ministry) have agreed in principle to getto us within a month after the proposal was presented and approved by theMalaysian Government," he said.As a follow-up to this, he said the Djibouti Central Bank will send adelegation to Malaysia to sign the POCPA agreement once the MalaysianCabinet gives the approval for Djibouti to secure the loan. "This is justthe beginning.We may request for additional loan under POCPA. . . . it may be anotherUS$5 million or US$10 million, depending on the need. We will also try topromote the use of palm oil to neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia,Eriteria, Somalia and Sudan which currently consume soya oil imported fromthe US," he said.A former French territory of 22,000 sq km in area, Djibouti has apopulation of about 860,000 people.Introduced by Malaysia several years ago, POCPA is a form of bilateralpayment arrangement to promote counter trade of palm oil between signatorycountries. The scheme is also aimed at promoting research and developmentof palm oil among research organisations of signatory countries and alsoto revive an industry faced with weakening demand for the past few years.Malaysia has roped in Algeria, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Myanmar,Bosnia Herzegovina and Cuba under the scheme.Besides palm oil, Rachad said Djibouti also plans to import some 300Proton cars to be converted into taxis, as part of its efforts to improvethe transportation system in that country. Rachad met Proton officials inShah Alam yesterday."Our discussion was a fruitful one and Proton has agreed in principle todeliver the 300 Proton cars for our public transport purposes, similar tothe one used by Malaysian cabbies in the Klang Valley, he said yesterday.He said if there is great demand for Proton cars, including for individualpurposes, Djibouti will not hesitate to import more of the national cars.While other imported cars are being taxed at 35 per cent, Rachad saidDjibouti will not impose tax on the Proton cars."In the spirit of Muslim brotherhood, we are giving preference to Protonto export its cars to Djibouti tax-free," he said.

Malaysian palm oil supplies up, India switches to importing soyKuala Lumpur (Reuters) 6/19/2001- Malaysia’s palm oil futures were mostlystable at the close on Thursday with players ignoring bearish May cropdata and keeping their faith on a possible increase in Chinese purchasethis year.Private forecaster Ivan Wong said palm oil output was estimated to haverisen to 991,000 tonnes on May, up 7.5% from a month earlier. At theclose, Malaysia’s benchmark third-month August contract was up RM 3 at RM823 a tonne after trading as high as RM 825. Overall volume was 1,385lots. The official Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) was scheduled torelease May palm oil output, exports and end-month stocks figures onFriday, when cargo surveyor ITS and SGS will issue their June 1-15 exportdata.Industry sources say China issued 600,000 tonnes of palm oil import quotasin Jan for the first half of this year and for another 100,000 tonnes inMay. They said the quota for the second half of the year could reach800,000 tonnes, up from an earlier estimate of 700,000.But some traders believed Malaysia may lose any benefit reaped from suchincreased palm oil demand as India, their main customer, switches tosoybean oil to profit from lower import duties. The Solvent ExtractorsAssociation of India said on Thursday the country purchased around 260,000tonnes of soybean oil in Nov-April, but imports were expected to increaseto up to 800,000 tonnes in May-Oct because of the duty differential. Totalsoybean oil imports would be more than one million tonnes for the 2000 –2001 oil year (Nov-Oct) compared with 700,000 tonnes in 1999/2000, itsaid.In the physical sector, June crude palm oil (CPO) for the sector, for thesouthern and central region was offered at RM 815 a tonne against bids atRM 810. Trades were done at RM 810 to RM 812.50 for south and at RM 810for central.July CPO for the southern and central regions saw offers at RM 825 againstbids of RM 820. Trade was reported at RM 820 – 825 for south and at RM 820for central.Among refined products, June/July RBD palm oil was offered at US$ 235 atonne FOB. There were offers for June/July RBD olein at US$ 252.50 andJune RBD palm stearin was offered at US$ 182.50. June palm fatty aciddistillate was offered at US$ 152.50.

MPOPC promotes palm oil in rural BangladeshKuala Lumpur, 6/21/2001-The Malaysian Palm Oil Rural Promotion Programmehas been launched in Bangladesh. Datuk Dr. Mohd. Yusof Ahmad, theMalaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, inaugurated the programme atBhulta, a village 30km from Dhaka, on Sunday.About 1,000 villagers from Bhulta gathered at a school to know more aboutthe goodness of palm oil.The Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC) and Bangladesh Edible OilLtd (BOEL), a private company, are jointly organising the programme whichwill continue for three months and cover 90 village.Palm oil introduced to consumers in Bangladesh about 25 years ago and hassteadily become popular. Now it is a well-know edible oil among urbanconsumers and the import of palm oil into Bangladesh has been increasingrapidly.At Bhulta, the benefits of palm oil were explained to villagers throughlectures and films. Booklets containing information were also distributed.Dr Yusof said he is confident palm oil will gain wider acceptance inBangladesh.The use of Malaysian palm oil as an everyday consumer product is no longera rarity in the Bangladesh market, Dr Yusof said. The last few years haveindeed witnessed Malaysian palm oil emerging as a viable alternative toother imports among local consumers.Datuk Haron Siraj, chief executive officer of MPOPC, who was also at thelaunch, said the objective of the rural promotion programme is to increaseconsumer awareness of palm oil. it is, he said, a healthy edible oilnaturally rich in vitamin-E and affordable.Besides promoting palm oil. Haron said, MPOPC and BEOL will construct aculvert on the canal on the eastern side of the school field at Bhulta tofacilitate the movement of local people.AKM Fakhrul Alam, country representatives of MPOPC in Bangladesh, said theimport of palm oil into Bangladesh has been rising.During the first five months of this year, 170,000 tonnes of palm oil wereimported. The import volume is much higher than that of the correspondingperiod of last year, he added.