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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- In view of the increasing palm oilproduction, Malaysian producers need to expand their exports to other newmarkets.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Research and Development (R&D)institutions such as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will continue tofocus on the sector, said MPOB's chairman Tan Sri Basir Ismail.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Palm oil, one of the oldest commoditytraded in Malaysia, is now going online, keeping up with the savvy worldof the Internet with the electronic exchange for palm oil products(ePOMEX) launched here Monday.

IT IS something of an irony that in some Western countries the rambutanand durian are often labelled as Thai fruits despite their Malay names.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Productivity improvement is crucial forthe palm oil industry to remain competitive in the market place, saidPrimary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

MUMBAI, Aug. 16. SOYABEAN oil has started to flood the country inunprecedented quantities even as the Government is apparently unable to doanything even to slow the flow.Opening of the floodgates is not only distorting the market, but alsoapprehensions that the sudden rush of imports at a time when the domesticcrop prospects are looking bright could hurt farmers' interests aregaining ground rapidly. Moreover, invoice manipulation in soyabean oilimports cannot be ruled out, say trade intermediaries.The import numbers, no doubt, bear out the fears. While soyabean oilarrivals during the whole of oil year 1999- 2000 (November-October) were5.61 lakh tonnes, arrivals in the first nine months of the current year -November 2000 to July 2001 - already totalled 8.38 lakh tonnes.Worse, out of this record quantity, 5.78 lakh tonnes arrived in the lastthree months. July alone saw a massive jump in soyaoil imports to anunprecedented 2.80 lakh tonnes as per latest estimate. In the currentmonth, several large vessels carrying soyabean oil are scheduled toarrive, while many are already in the process of discharging at variousports of the country.According to information reaching here, Kakinada port alone has in thefirst fortnight of this month discharged 34,000 tonnes of soyabean oil,the quantity equivalent to imports through the port in the previous fourmonths from April to July. The situation in other ports is no different.The rate of arrivals suggests that aggregate import of soyabean oil duringoil year 2000-01 may reach 13-14 lakh tonnes, about 25 per cent of thecountry's total edible oil imports during the year and nearly 150 per centmore than previous year's imports.The haste with which massive quantities of soyabean oil have beencontracted for import because of the advantage of lower duty (45 per centad valorem on crude soyabean oil) has led to serious implications forconsumer welfare.The massive surge in low-duty soyaoil over the last three months has ledto rampant adulteration of this oil with premium but scarce oils such assunflower oil. With the Government machinery inadequate and lax inmonitoring edible oil quality, adulterators are having a field day.Equally important, with the imported soyaoil glut, domestic processorswill find it uneconomic to crush indigenous soyabean in the ensuingseason. The harvest is just a few weeks away. On current reckoning,soyabean output is likely to rebound from last year's weather affected 48lakh tonnes to around 56-58 lakh tonnes this year. As processing marginessentially comes from sale of oil, processing activity may slowdown asmargin may not be attractive, it is feared. In case of soyabean, the oilcontent is 17 per cent only.The huge inflow of soyaoil is the result of a rather skewed customs dutystructure for edible oils announced in the Union Budget on February 28this year. While the basic customs duty on all edible oils was raisedsteeply to 75-85 per cent, soyabean oil attracted only 45 per cent becauseof WTO-binding. Apparently, soyabean oil enjoys the most-favoured-oilstatus with the Government.As a result, import of sunflower oil which was 5.74 lakh tonnes in1999-2000 is down this year by 50 per cent to 2.84 lakh tonnes as arrivalshave virtually dried up over the last two months. The acute scarcity ofsunflower oil, accentuated by sharp decline in indigenous output in thecurrent year because of drought conditions, has encouraged rampant mixingwith cheap oils such as soya.In addition, on August 3, the Government fixed tariff values for palm oils- crude palm oil, refined palm oil and refined palmolein; but soft oils(soyabean oil, sunflower oil etc) were left untouched.Trade intermediaries point out that the menace of invoice-manipulation maynot be confined to palm oils, but is equally likely in case of soyabeanoil also. Indeed, soyabean oil prices have been as volatile as palm oilprices. The price trends of both palm and soya oils over the last threemonths suggest they have moved in tandem.Interestingly, a wide variation is reported in the price of soyabean oilconsignments that have recently arrived and been cleared. A traderepresentative told Business Line on condition anonymity that invoiceprices varied from a low of $309 per tonne to a high of $400 a tonne costand freight, a variation which was rather unusual, to put it mildly. Largevolume consignments were priced lower, he pointed out.These developments have cast a shadow not only on trade

Unilever says that there is no similarity between its cholesterol loweringmargarine and Bayer's Baycol (Lipobay) which was recently withdrawn fromthe market because of complaints over unacceptable side effects.This margarine is marketed under the name Becel Pro-Active in theNetherlands and Take Control in the US.Unlike Bayer's drug, it is not intended as a therapeutic agent and itscholesterol lowering action is based on plant sterols rather than statinsas in Baycol.Unilever says the announcement by Bayer will have no affect on its salesof cholesterol lowering margarines and does not necessitate that itsmargarines be further studied for possible adverse side effects.Earlier in 2001 a French report suggested that consumption of largeamounts of cholesterol lowering fats could result in breast, intestinal,and prostate cancer, but these finding were contested by Dutchmanufacturers of margarine, fats, and oils.In 1H 2001 Unilever recorded a turnover of EUR 50 M for cholesterollowering margarine in the Netherlands and the US.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- About 1,400 participants from 43countries will attend the three-day International Palm Oil Congress (2001PIPOC) beginning here tomorrow until Wednesday.

KUMPULAN Guthrie Bhd has engaged lawyers from three firms, including oneeach from Indonesia and the US, to assist in its defence against a suit byPT Adhiyasa Saranamas (PTAS) for allegedly breach of contract over salesof palm oil estates.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Palm Oil Board hasassisted in many technological breakthroughs towards the commercialisationof palm-based products and industry players should take advantage of them,says its director-general, Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron.

Dewan Rakyat - Palm oil producers should not be competing among themselvesas it would lead to a drop in its price, says Primary Industries MinisterDatuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.He said the producers should be competing with other types of oilproducers, such as sunflower seed oil and rapeseed oil.Dr Lim was replying to Senator Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman who askedwhether it was a paradox for the Government to encourage Malaysianplantation companies to invest in oil palm plantations in Indonesia.Citing the example of rubber tree plantation, he said Malaysia did nothave a pact with Indonesia and Thailand, which also produced rubber, untilthe price of the commodity had dropped."This had affected small estate owners as they became high costsproducers."The strategy of encouraging palm oil producers to invest abroad is tomaintain the price of the commodity."Dr Lim also told Senator Zakaria Arshad that the subsidy given to smallestate holders under the Felda and Felcra schemes was not given to othersmall estate holders.Tuesday, August 14, 2001The Star

DANISCO Cultor (M) Sdn Bhd, which produces emulsifiers for the foodindustry, is expanding its plant in the Prai industrial area which has nowreached its maximum production capacity.According to its general manager (South-East Asia, Australia and NewZealand) David Alan Last, the expansion programme is to meet the company'santicipated sales growth in the region.He said that the company enjoyed dynamic and sustainable growth after theeconomic slowdown in 1997 and now had marketing links in 25 countries.“The expansion programme is expected to increase production capacity by25%, in line with the company’s average annual sales growth of about 15%.We want to tap the growing market and the Prai plant has also become aglobal supply point,” Last told a media briefing at the Danisco plant onTuesday.The Prai plant produces palm oil-based emulsifier, an ingredient used infood-making industry. The company was set up on a joint-venture basisbetween Danisco A/S of Denmark and Malaysian palm oil manufacturer PalmcoHoldings Bhd in 1990.However, Danisco secured a 100% equity in 1995 and turned Penang into itsregional centre for the Asia-Pacific region.Danisco A/S is a multi-national company based in Copenhagen. It operatesglobally under three main divisions, viz food ingredients, sweeteners andsugar.According to Last, Danisco has also proposed to set up a flavour sectionin the Prai plant to meet growing demand.“The flavour section will only be set up after our investments in Chinaare in full swing,” he said.Business manager (flavour) Steen Londal said the company's vision was tobe among the world's top five players in the flavour production businesswhich had vast potential.Londal said Asia Pacific had sales potential of nearly RM4.5bil annuallyand Danisco would be a major player via organic growth and acquisitions ofother firms.Danisco employs 15,000 workers in 40 countries. Its net sales for thefiscal year ended April 30 touched 23.5 billion Danish krone.Thursday, August 16, 2001The Star