Berita Arkib

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Palm oil shipments to Pakistan are set totriple in November due to U.N.-organised purchases to help Afghan refugeesand ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, traders said onWednesday.Pakistan's palm oil imports, which may reach 220,000 tonnes this month,will be channeled to refugees fleeing U.S.-led strikes in neighbouringAfghanistan and to meet domestic demand.Pakistan normally buys up to 80,000 tonnes of palm oil a month from theworld's largest producers, Malaysia and Indonesia, but local consumptionis set to jump to 110,000 tonnes during the Ramadan."You have almost 900,000 refugees in Lahore and Peshawar. The U.N. orthe U.S. don't want to starve these people," said one trader in KualaLumpur."The U.N. basically gives out local tenders to local traders inPakistan," said the trader, adding the oil was purchased at $325-330 C&F atonne.The U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan has put thousands ofrefugees on the move and stoked fighting on the front lines betweenTaliban forces and the opposition Northern Alliance.The United Nations, which fears up to 1.5 million Afghans could flee,has called for surrounding states -- Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- to admit people trying to escape starvationand the U.S.-led bombing campaign.Traders said Malaysia was expected to ship some 160,000 tonnes of RBDpalm olein and RBD palm oil to Pakistan in November. Around 120,000 tonnesof oil had been booked so far.Shipments from Indonesia were set to reach 60,000 tonnes, in which40,000 tonnes had been booked, they said.

06 November 2001 (Business Times) - The Government may consider continuingthe RM100 million aid to rubber smallholders to help with their dailyexpenses next year if the situation warrants it, National Economic ActionCouncil (NEAC) executive chairman Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.

02 November 2001 (Business Times) - There is a big potential for the localfarming community to discover new wealth as Malaysia further develops itsagriculture sector.

05 November 2001 (Business Times) - DRB-HICOM Bhd hopes to clinch theUS$180 million (US$1 = RM3.80) railway project in Bangladesh by this year,officials of the company said.The company will have an advantage over competing bids if the BangladeshGovernment opts to use financing arranged by the Malaysian company.“However, nothing is certain until we sign the contract,” said a DRB-HICOMofficial.The official said DRB-HICOM would “almost certainly” get the contract tobuild the 110km railway if Bangladesh Government chooses the financingpackage.“If it decides to use its own funding, then we have the same chance asother companies. We are doing our best to get the project, and theMalaysian Government is very helpful while the Bangladesh Government isvery receptive to Malaysia... it views us positively,” the spokesman said.It was reported in July that the local automotive and transport giant wasclose to landing its maiden rail development project abroad and is in theprocess of finalising details of the project.“It is likely to be joint-development involving DRB-HICOM and someBangladesh partners.“This is the normal practice for infrastructure projects in the country,”a DRB-HICOM official had told Business Times.When contacted last Friday, the official said that the company is waitingfor indication from the Bangladesh Government. “Hopefully, it willannounce the winners by this year.”DRB-HICOM’s participation in railway development became more evident afterthe Government announced earlier this year that a RM12 billion projectwill be undertaken to double-track the entire peninsula’s rail network.The company has come to be seen as a front-runner to play a key role.The project is divided into two packages and is being offered to companiesfrom India and China on a barter deal basis involving payment in palm oilfor the work contracted.The northern stretch has been awarded to India, while the southern grid isto be developed by Chinese firms.Apart from having preliminary talks with India’s Ircon International Ltdto offer its services for the northern stretch of the rail project,DRB-HICOM recently confirmed its participation as a sub-contractor for thelink between Seremban and Johor Baru.DRB-HICOM will work with head contractor — China Railway, for the RM6billion double-track rail link.DRB-HICOM is also involved in the RM4.2 billion construction of the 170kmdouble-tracked Rawang-Ipoh stretch, which will be completed by June 2004.Its share is said to be worth RM2.6 billion, with work on the first phaseprogressing as scheduled.

01 November 2001 (Business Times) - LOCAL exporters are down to a guessinggame when it comes to estimating their costs of sending goods to Pakistan,India and West Asia.This is due to the current undisclosed sum of insurance premiums to bepaid by the charter parties following the September 11 terrorist attackson the US.“The new terms require us to call the insurers three weeks before a voyageand find out the actual insurance premium.”“To make matters worse, 48 hours before reaching the port of call, anotherclarification on whether the insurance premium is still the same isrequired,” one exporter told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur.The London-based War Risk Rating Committee sets the insurance rates andpremiums for vessels plying the trade routes.Sources said the committee is having difficulty to determine the actualcharges for ships headed for Pakistan, India and West Asia. Among the moreprominent vessel insurers are Lloyds of London and P&I Club.The previous rate of 0.025 per cent of the hull value of the vessel wasincreased to 0.05 per cent, a war risk surcharge to all destinations, andstands the same for any vessels plying all other waters.Sources said the problem is the undisclosed amount placed on vesselsplying to India, Pakistan and West Asia.The undisclosed insurance premium leaves the charterers in a daze as tothe actual amount of insurance charges to be placed on the other party.“The only solution is for the charterer to assume a figure and hope thatthe figure does not stray above the amount placed,” one exporter said.The current problem of undislosed premiums was brought up with the PrimaryIndustries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik by the local insurancecompanies, shippers and oil palm exporters.The representatives from the various industries asked assistance from theGovernment, to place a deposit for the companies insuring the vessels tothe war risk regions.“It is not the case where the waters are unsafe to be travelled on, butmore of a situation where the large insurers are attempting to make back aUS$70 billion ( US$1 = RM3.80) loss from the crashing of the World TradeCentre in New York, and the four aircraft lost in the process,” one sourcesaid.Local insurance brokers feel that the placing of the undisclosed war risksurcharge is taking things a step too far. The local brokers feel that theimposition of such a surcharge is uncalled for as the actual attacks arein Afghanistan which has no sea boundary or ports.The meeting with the minister was only to inform the Government of theproblems, a solution is yet to be decided on.The minister, it seems, will call for another meeting sometime soon todecide on the possible assistance which can be offered by the localGovernment.

02 November 2001 (Business Times)

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- The local palm oil industry is poised togain significantly by way of increased exports following the decision bythe Indian government to lower import duty on crude palm oil (CPO).

Monday, November 5, 2001(The Star) - AS at the end of August this year,Malaysia produced 7. 04 million tonnes of palm oil, which represented a10%, increase over the same period last year.Malaysia is now facing the last quarter of the year where high monthlyproduction level is the norm. It is obvious that this year’s productionwill be more than last year’s. Nevertheless, the earlier forecast by somequarters that this year’s production may reach 11.8 million to 12 milliontonnes is inaccurate.Based on recent developments, this year’s production is forecast to bearound 11.2 million tonnes, an increase of about 0.4 million tonnescompared to last year.Taking into account the beginning stock and domestic demand, it has beenestimated that for the whole of this year, we have some 11.5 milliontonnes of palm oil for export. Thus, the country has to do better thisyear if she does not want to be saddled with high stocks again.For the first eight months of this year, Malaysia’s exports have beenquite spectacular when compared on a year-to-year basis. Based onpreliminary figures, the growth of exports during the eight months of thisyear has reached almost 30%, bringing the exports to 7.09 million tonnes.Hopefully, the country’s export for the rest of the year will be betterthan last year.The impressive export performance in the first eight months has resultedin a drop in stocks to 878,300 tonnes as at end-August from 921,700 tonnesat the end of July. This is a huge reduction from the stock level of 1.42million tonnes as at end December 2000 or 1.52 million tonnes as at endJanuary 2001.As for Indonesia, the world’s second largest producer and exporter of palmoil, the production estimates for 2001 are mixed.At the low end, some say Indonesia may produce 7.6 million tonnes thisyear. But others predict Indonesia’s production to even reach eightmillion tonnes. This means that for this year, Indonesia will have between5.2 and 5.5 million tonnes of palm oil for export.Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said he was toldthat for the first half of 2001, Indonesia’s exports touched 1.95 milliontonnes, which was only a 15.9% increase compared with the same period lastyear.Malaysia’s exports grew by 30%, which means our export is higher. Maybethe changes in India’s duty structure have to some extent affectedIndonesia’s export performance. India, beginning March this year, hasincreased the import duty on CPO and PPO (processed palm oil), whilemaintaining the duty on soybean oil, thus making soybean oil morecompetitive.Since 40% of Indonesia’s palm oil export to India was CPO, compared to 22%of Malaysia’s, Indonesia is more adversely affected than Malaysia.The developments in other oil crops: The US Department of Agriculture(USDA) report of Sept 14, 2001 indicates soybean production in the US inthe coming season is estimated to be higher by three per cent or 77.1million tonnes compared to 74.8 million tonnes last year.This represents a decline over USDA’s earlier estimates. Apparently, theweather conditions during planting have not been favourable. This was thereason for an upturn in world oil and fats prices in early July.The production of both rapeseed and sunflower are also anticipated to fallin the coming season. The Canadian rapeseed crop is forecast to decline by28.7% or 5.07 million tonnes from 7.12 million tonnes, while the Australiacrop will be down by as much as 15.8% or 1.43 million tonnes from 1.7million tonnes last year.Sunflower production in Russia and the Ukraine is also expected to fall by12% (i.e. 3.3 million tonnes versus 3.75 million tonnes in 2000) and 26.5%(i.e. 2.55 million tonnes versus 3.47 million tonnes in 2000)respectively. Soybean harvest in both Argentina and Brazil is high at 26.5million and 38.2 million tonnes respectively.

U.S. Patents. 11/2/2001. Abstract: This invention relates to a method ofrefining a crude vegetable oil by removing insoluble material from the oilto provide a substantially clarified oil. The process comprises coolingthe vegetable oil and maintaining the vegetable oil at the desired lowtemperature. The vegetable oil is then heated to provide an amount of asubstantially clarified oil that can be separated from the insolublematerial. The process is useful for a wide variety of oils includingsoybean oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil, sesame oil, rapeseedoil, linseed oil, cottonseed oil, rice bran oil, perilla oil, castor oil,olive oil, tsubaki oil, coconut oil, palm oil, hemp seed oil, tung oil,kapok oil, tea seed oil.Ex Claim Text: A process for purifying vegetable oil, said processcomprising: maintaining the vegetable oil at a temperature below about10.degree. C.; heating the vegetable oil to a temperature sufficient toprovide an amount of substantially clarified oil; and drawing off theclarified vegetable oil.Patent Number: 6307077Issue Date: 2001 10 23If you would like to purchase a copy of this patent, please callMicroPatent at 800-648-6787.Inventor(s): Quear, Robert Michael

SABI Brazil, Oct 30, 2001 (Valor Economico/SABI via COMTEX) -- TheBrazilian soy crop next year may be not only one of the largest, but alsothe earliest. By the third week of October, the area already planted withsoy equalled 11% of the total intended for this crop. This compares with4% at the same time last year. A rainy spell in September helped withearlier planting and if favorable weather persists, the planting could befinished two or three weeks earlier this year. An early planting andharvest can bring a double benefit to the producer, who will have the cropready for sale earlier, when there is more demand in the market and whowill be ready sooner for the corn planting. Negotiations related to thesale of the harvest in January are beginning to take place in some areasof the country, with prices of between R$20 and R$25.

Gua Musang, 3 November,2001 (Berita Harian) – Peneroka rancangan tanahLembaga Kemajuan Kelantan Selatan (Kesedar) akan kehilangan puncapendapatan jika mereka terus enggan menyerahkan ladang getah dan kelapasawit mereka yang sudah tua untuk ditanam semula.

02 November 2001 (Business Times) - MALAYSIA’S crude palm oil (CPO) pricesare expected to stay firm between RM900 and RM1,000 a tonne next week onthe back of strong fundamentals.Analysts said expected overseas demand in the near future, especially fromChina, plus the recent cut in India’s import duty on CPO are all good newsthat should boost the commodity’s market sentiment.They said the upside potential for CPO price, however, is likely to belimited in the near term on anticipation that the palm oil closing stockfor October will increase slightly compared with that of the previousmonth.Despite some disruptions in palm oil shipments to Pakistan and West Asiadue to the war in Afghanistan, market watchers view the delays as atemporary setback as demand from these countries are expected to bounceback once the situation in the region improves.Malaysia’s physical CPO closed RM15 higher yesterday at RM960 per tonnefor November (South) from RM945 per tonne the day before.On the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (MDEX), the benchmark third monthJanuary CPO futures ended RM16 firmer at RM1,006 a tonne from RM990 atonne previously.The price increases were mainly due to news that India has, on Wednesday,slashed its import duty on CPO by 10 per cent to 65 per cent.“The reduction in India’s import duty on CPO was not expected by many...that was why the market reacted positively to it,” a plantation analystwith a foreign research house told Business Times.However, palm oil traders said the reduction in import duty will benefitIndonesia more than Malaysia as the former exports more of its palm oil incrude form, while Malaysia mainly sells its palm oil abroad in refinedform.India has an 85 per cent levy on refined palm oil to help protect domesticrefiners.Nevertheless, the analyst said the tax cut is a reflection of the IndianGovernment’s commitment of making palm oil more affordable to the country’s consumers.“What is more important is that demand from India is still quite strong,”he said.Following the September 11 attacks, palm oil shipment costs have gone updue to war risk-related costs and the increase has to be borne by endusers.Reducing the import duty on CPO will ultimately result in buyers payingless for the commodity, he said.India was the largest buyer of Malaysia’s palm oil in the first sevenmonths of this year at 1.3 million tonnes during the period or 21 per centof the country’s total shipments.China is the second largest buyer at 695,000 tonnes, with Pakistan thirdat 672,000 tonnes.Another analyst said the tax cut on CPO will make the commodity morecompetitive against other edible oils, particularly soyabean oil.Although the situation in Afghanistan had caused palm oil stocks to go updue to delayed shipments to major buyer Pakistan and other West Asiannations, she was optimistic that the setback is only temporary.“On an overall basis, the demand for palm oil from these countries willhave to come back because palm oil is a needed good,” she said.