Berita Arkib

13/09/04 - CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Dow Jones)--China's total vegetable oilimports are forecast at 7.0 million tons, a slight increase from lastyear, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday in its Oilseeds:World Markets and Trade report.Although oil consumption should continue to rise supported by incomegrowth, vegetable oil import growth is expected to slow due partly tolarger production in the country. Vegetable oil production is forecast at13 million tons, up 11% from the previous year, due mainly to largerforecast production of soybean oil, cottonseed oil, and rapeseed oil.Imports are expected to account for nearly 35% of total vegetable oilconsumption. China is estimated to account for 19% of global oilconsumption in 2004/05, the report said.China's vegetable oil imports in 2003/04 are estimated to reach 6.8million tons, up nearly 27% from the previous year, the USDA noted. Thesharp increase in imports is primarily attributed to high soybean pricesin the spring that made oil crushing unprofitable and encouraged importsof oil. Anticipation of the implementation of new standards for crudesoybean oil has also accelerated imports before the new standards go intoeffect on Oct. 1, 2004. Vegetable oil imports are mainly from Argentina(soy) and Malaysia (palm).

13/09/04 - CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Dow Jones)--The world oilseed productionforecast for 2004-05 was increased 1.8 million tons in September to 380.5million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday in itsOilseeds: Situation and Outlook report.An increase in the EU rapeseed crop, up 1.2 million tons to 14.2million tons, and an increase in India's soybean crop, accounted for mostof the increase. Other production increases this month include cottonseed,and sunflowerseed.The 2004/05 soybean production was increased to 144,000 tons thismonth as a lower U.S. production forecast, down 1.1 million tons to 77.2million tons, nearly offset a 1.3 million-ton increase in India'sproduction forecast, the report said.A reduction in forecast soybean imports for 2004/05 helped push worldoilseed trade lower in September. Total oilseed imports were lowered to74.5 million tons as soybean imports fell 987,000 tons to 63.5 milliontons. This mirrors a similar decline in soybean imports for 2003/04 andreflects the weaker demand for soybean imports observed in recent weeks.Reductions in soybean imports were noted for the EU, Egypt, Israel, andothers in 2003/04, and in China, Egypt, Malaysia and South Africa for2004/05.Soybean exports for 2003/04 were reduced nearly 1.0 million tons to55.5 million tons this month. A slower year-to-date export pace byArgentina accounted for much of the decline, with additional shortfallsnoted for the U.S. and Uruguay. Similarly, soybean exports were reduced1.2 million tons to 63.6 million tons in 2004/05. Nearly all-majorexporters were impacted with particular attention focused on the U.S.,Argentina, and Uruguay. The exception was Canada where the soybean exportforecast for both 2003/04 and 2004/05 was increased. Specializing inidentity preserved soybeans, year-to-date trade showed exports reaching880,000 tons in 2003/04, which in turn prompted an increase in the 2004/05export forecast to 950,000 tons, the USDA said.Forecast world oilseed crush for 2004/05 was increased 1.2 milliontons to 301.0 million tons, bolstered by crush increases for India and theEU following increases in soybean and rapeseed production, respectively.This contrasts with a 700,000-ton drop in 2003/04 oilseed crush thatfollowed this month's reduced soybean and sunflowerseed productionestimates for China. Lower world crush volume led to declines in2003/04-protein meal and vegetable oil production. For 2004/05, theincrease in crush volume led to higher production of protein meals andvegetable oils. Forecast world protein meal production rose 403,000 tonsto 206.6 million tons while vegetable oil production increased 410,000tons to 105.9 million tons.India's soybean meal export forecast for 2004/05 increased 400,000tons to 2.5 million tons this month. This more than offset lower soybeanmeal exports from the U.S. However, reduced sunflowerseed meal andfishmeal export forecasts pushed the total 2004/05 meal export forecastlower.World vegetable oil imports for 2004/05 were lowered this month withreductions in the soybean, palm, and rapeseed oil forecasts. Total importsdeclined 370,000 tons to 38.1 million tons with palm oil down 191,000 tonsto 20.9 million tons and soybean oil down 174,000 tons to 9.7 milliontons.Forecast world consumption of vegetable oil for 2004/05 was higher despitethe cut in the import forecast due to the larger rapeseed crush. Total2004/05 vegetable oil consumption is forecast to reach 105.1 million tons,up 238,000 tons from last month and 6% above the 2003/04 forecast, thereport noted.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The move to boost the agriculturesector as the third engine of growth after manufacturing and services is astep in the right direction towards creating high value-added agriculturaland agro-based products besides encouraging related research anddevelopment activities.

CHANGLOON, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Felda will give special focus oncommercialising its products such as palm oil and products made from it inforeign countries, especially on the African continent.

09/09/04 - In Brazil & Argentina several major oilseed and grain growingareas are still very dry. Early plantings could not be carried out.Farmers wait for the arrival of the much needed rainfall but forecasts donot provide much hope forthis to occur until Sept 18.In Brazil hardly any rain was noted in the first half of this week in MatoGrosso as well as in neighbouring states. Mato Grosso is the biggestsoybean producing state in Brazil, but early plantings, normally scheduledfor the first half of September, cannot be carried out. It is still veryearly in the season, but the very dry conditions during the last 6-8 weeksare of great concern. Mato Grosso accounted for 24% of total Braziliansoybean plantings last year. It may be difficult this year to accomplishthe intended boost in soybean plantings by 0.6 Mn ha in that state.Dryness is also of concern in most other Brazilian soybean growingregions.In Argentina the northern half of the country is still very dry. Someisolated beneficial rain arrived in parts of SantaFe and Entre Rios on Sept 7 and 8, but moisture large deficits stillpersist.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The government on Friday proposed anincentive package which includes tax deduction and pioneer status toencourage the commercialisation of resource-based research and development(R&D) findings by public research institutes.

9/10/2004 BUSINESSWORLD (PHILIPPINES) - TACLOBAN CITY - The PhilippineCoconut Authority (PCA) needs around P1.2 billion a year to rehabilitate490,000 hectares of coconut farms throughout the country and contain thecadang-cadang disease. PCA Administration Danilo Coronacion said hisagency still hopes to get part of the dividend earnings from a 27% stakein San Miguel Corp. believed to have been acquired using funds from acoconut levy collected under the Marcos government. "We all realize thatthe government is now in tight financial status that is why we are lookingat accessing whatever funds are available from the coconut levy," he said.

10/09/04 CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Dow Jones)--U.S. soybean futures areexpected to open with good gains Friday after the government cut 2004-05production more than expected.However, a record-large U.S. corn crop and as-expected wheat numbersshould keep those markets on the defensive at the start, analysts said ata Chicago Board of Trade press briefing following the U.S. Department ofAgriculture's release of its September crop production and supply anddemand reports."It looks like there's going to be plenty of everything," John Welsh,senior vice president at Peregrine Financial Group, said of the recordcorn and near-record soybean crops."Upside (price) potential will probably be limited, and demoralizationof the participants in the market as the grain complex has declined thisyear may at some point in the near future reach a level of outrightdisgust that would cause the market to rally," he added. "I'm not surewe're there yet."For example, the nearly ideal growing conditions of large crops havepressured Nov beans from a high of $7.89 in May to a low of $5.52 inAugust. Dec corn has plummeted from $3.22 1/4 in May all the way to $2.25in September.Meanwhile, the USDA raised U.S. 2004-05 corn production to 10.961billion bushels with an average yield of 149.4 bushels an acre in theSeptember report, from 10.923 billion bushels and a 148.9 bu/ac yield inthe August data and markedly higher than last year's 10.114 billion-bushelcrop.Corn ending stocks rose by 77 million bushels to a total of 1.209billion bushels, compared to the August estimate of 1.132 billion.The USDA lowered 2004-05 soybean production to 2.836 billion bushelswith an average yield of 38.5 bushels an acre, compared to 2.877 billionand 39.1 bu/ac in the August report.The soybean crush was lowered by 10 million bushels to 1.615 billion,and exports were lowered 30 million bushels to 1.000 billion. Soybeanending stocks were unchanged at 190 million bushels.On wheat, the USDA left 2004-05 all-wheat production unchanged at2.123 billion bushels with an average yield of 42 bushels an acre. Endingstocks were also unchanged at 578 million bushels, while exports were leftat 950 million bushels, the USDA said.After their sharp declines, prices may now begin to find "demandsupport levels," Welsh said, adding that usage and feed demand haveincreased over the same time frame."I still have the suspicion, as everyone does, that the upsidepotential is somewhat limited this year. But if South America doesn'tproduce as much as they did last year, we may get a kick from that.Soybean demand has been wonderful and growing continually but so hasproduction - not only in the United States but all around the world,"Welsh said, highlighting the markets' dilemma this year.The longer term technical picture in corn and soybeans, as well as theglobal increase in demand, may theoretically stabilize prices near currentlevels, he noted.

10/09/04 WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture onFriday lowered its forecasts for 2004-05 soybean production and yield,again going against analysts' expectations for stronger predictions. USDAattributed the decrease mainly to lower-than-expected yield prospects inthe upper Midwest.USDA, in its monthly crop report, predicted U.S. soybean productionwill reach just 2.84 billion bushels. That's a drop from the August andJuly forecasts of 2.88 billion and 2.94 billion, respectively. Despite theforecast declines, USDA said in the report that 2004-05 production isstill expected to be "the second highest production on record."The projected average soybean yield was set at 38.5 bushels per acre,a 0.6-bushel drop from the August forecast, USDA said in the Septembercrop report."Below-normal temperatures and adequate moisture across most of theCorn Belt, the Great Plains and the Delta in August favored the soybeancrop during critical stages of development," USDA said in the crop report."However, yield prospects declined in the northern tier of states due tocool weather. A brief period of freezing temperatures slowed thedevelopment of a crop already behind in maturity in North Dakota andMinnesota."

09/09/04 SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Asian Soy rust is present in 80% ofBrazilian soybean-producing areas and could prompt losses of more thanfive million metric tons in the 2004-05 harvest, specialists fromBrazil's Agricultural Confederation CNA said Thursday.Soy rust is likely to prompt losses equivalent to or higher than2003-04 losses, which reached 4.5 million tons of soy, equivalent to 9%of the 49.8 million-ton harvest, according to Alecio Marostica, anexecutive from CNA.CNA estimates that soy rust cost Brazilian producers $2.2 billion inthe 2003-04 harvest.Brazil's 2004-05 soy harvest could reach 66 million tons, dependingon climatic condition, Marostica added.The CNA expects the soy-rust epidemic to be worse in Mato Grosso,Brazil's largest soy-producing state.Climatic conditions were responsible for the increased disseminationof soy rust in Brazil's center-west, which received above-averagerainfall this year, helping to propagate soy rust, according togovernment soy researcher Jose Tadashi Yorinori.Producers have asked the government to speed up approval of newagrochemicals that can be used to combat soy rust. According to CNAestimates, about five new fungicides are waiting approval by governmentagencies.The government estimates that producers will need 26 million litersof agrochemicals, up from 16 million liters in the 2003-04 harvestseason.Soy rust prompted a decline in productivity in Brazil to 2.4 tons perhectare in 2003-04 from 2.8 tons per hectare in 2002-03.Soy rust was first detected in Brazil in 2001. It could spread intothe U.S. in the next two to three years, according to Cristiano Simon,president of Brazil's National Association of Agricultural Protection.

9/9/04 INDIA (Oilmandi) - Imports of edible oil during the first tenmonths of the marketing year (MY) 2003 (October-September) are estimatedat 3.04 million tonne, 28 per cent less than the quantity imported duringthe corresponding period of MY 2002.

Thursday September 9, 2004 - PLAYERS in the agriculture sector areanticipating good incentives in Budget 2005 such as less tax, better linksbetween productivity and wages, and strong emphasis on the training ofagricultural workers to take the industry to greater heights.