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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (cpo) futurescontracts on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange could trend firmer nextweek as the market continued to react positively to a host ofmarket-friendly factors.

09 November 2001 (Business Times) - MALAYSIAN crude palm oil (CPO) supplylogistics are back in gear with exports shifting into normal to out-pacethe build-up in stocks.Palm oil bulkers no longer face storage constraints as demand has pickedup ahead of the upcoming festivals like Deepavali on November 14, HariRaya in mid-December and Chinese New Year in mid-February, an industrysource said.“The storage tanks were overflowing at one point but the pressure haseased substantially... shipments are back to normal,” the source toldBusiness Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.Business Times reported last month that CPO bulkers were facing storageconstraints caused by disruptions in shipments to Pakistan and other partsof West Asia due to the on-going military strikes in Afghanistan.CPO is stored at bulking facilities at the ports and elsewhere beforebeing loaded onto ships for export. At least one of the major depots hadto turn away new supplies in the wake of sluggish offtake, worsened byshipping lines’ nervousness in servicing the Gulf region.The US and its coalition partners had on October 7 launched a militaryoffensive against Afghanistan in an effort to force the ruling Taliban tohand over Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, which Washington names asthe prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the US.Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik had even assuredshipping lines that the Government was prepared to fully insure theirvessels against attack.The world’s biggest CPO bulker, Felda Johor Bulkers Sdn Bhd, rejected upto 50,000 tonnes of the commodity as its tanks were full, sources said.Located in Pasir Gudang, the facility can hold 242,000 tonnes of CPO atany one time. It handled 3.6 million tonnes or 33.27 per cent of Malaysia’s palm oil exports of 10.82 million tonnes last year.It is not immediately known to what degree shipments were actuallydisrupted last month. Pakistan buys about 100,000 tonnes of the commodityfrom Malaysia each month, involving the use of about 10 ships.There are 31 licensed bulkers in the country with facilities located inJohor, Pahang, Penang, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak.Combined, they can hold up to 850,000 tonnes of CPO at a time. Johor leadswith a capacity of 267,000 tonnes, followed by Selangor with 247,855tonnes, Pahang 120,880 tonnes, Penang 115,500 tonnes, Sabah 94,840 tonnesand Sarawak 3,600 tonnes.Apart from Felda Johor Bulkers, the other major bulkers are Fima PalmbulkServices Sdn Bhd, Butterworth Bulking Installation Sdn Bhd, Wilmar BulkingInstallation Sdn Bhd and Guthrie Export Sdn Bhd.At the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange yesterday, the benchmark third monthJanuary 2002 futures closed RM19 higher at RM1,100 a tonne.A trader said the market is cautious ahead of the release of Octoberproduction figures, which are likely to show a 1 per cent rise fromSeptember’s 1.1 million tonnes.The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is expected to release the production, exportand end-stock data on Monday.“The market is on a technical rebound but there may be a retracement assome players feel that it is already somewhat overpriced.“But overall, the market is bullish amid strong seasonal demand,” said atrader.At the close, November futures were unchanged at RM1,080 a tonne, DecemberRM19 higher at RM1,099, and February and March RM31 and RM34 up at RM1,146and RM1,155, respectively.Total turnover was down 1,007 lots at 2,843 lots and open interests waslikewise 189 contracts lower at 13,150 contracts.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The government has allowed a quota of 1.3million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) for duty-free export next year,Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik announced hereFriday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Malaysia will allow duty-free export of1.3 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) in 2002 to boost the market,the government said on Friday."The government has decided that for next year 1.3 million tonnes of CPOwill be available to be exported tax-free," Primary Industries MinisterLim Keng Yaik told reporters.He said only companies which have plantations and refineries in Malaysia'seastern states of Sabah and Sarawak can apply for the quota.Lim said the one million tonne quota for this year was almost exhausted.Traders had hoped the government would announce a new quota for duty-freeexport of CPO after India cut import duties to 65 percent from 75 percentlast week, and also because of aggressive sales by arch rival Indonesia.

JAKARTA, Nov 6 (Asia Pulse) - A 40 member Indonesian trade missionrepresenting 23 crude palm oil (CPO) companies will leave Thursday forChina in a bid to increase exports to the country.Rosediana Suharto, an expert staff of the industry and trade minister,said Monday the mission will meet with 300 Chinese business leaders fromthe China National Vegetable Association.Rosediana said the mission is important as the Chinese will bedisappointed as they altready knew the plan.Derom Bangun, the chairman of the association of CPO companies, said Chinais a highly potential market for CPO and olein especially after its entryto the World Trade Organization.China imports around 1.1 million tons of CPO a year and the imports couldrise to 1.5 million tons after the quota system is removed by thatcountry, Bangun said.Indonesia has a only a quota share of 300,000 tons but hopes to have alarger share of the Chinese market after the removal of the quota system.Malaysia dominates the CPO market in China.

11/8/2001, (Soyatech.com) - As at the end of August this year, Malaysiaproduced 7. 04 million tonnes of palm oil, which represented a 10%,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 production willbe more than last year. Nevertheless, the earlier forecast by somequarters that this year production may reach 11.8 million to 12 milliontonnes is inaccurate.Based on recent developments, this years 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 anddomestic demand, it has been estimated that for the whole of this year, wehave some 11.5 million tonnes of palm oil for export. Thus, the countryhas to do better this year if she does not want to be saddled with highstocks again.For the first eight months of this year, Malaysia is 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 worldís second largest producer andexporter of palm oil, 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 production to even reach eight milliontonnes. This means that for this year, Indonesia will have between 5.2 and5.5 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 exports touched 1.95 milliontonnes, which was only a 15.9% increase compared with the same period lastyear.Malaysia exports grew by 30%, which means our export is higher. Maybe thechanges in India duty structure have to some extent affected Indonesiaexport performance. India, beginning March this year, has increased theimport duty on CPO and PPO (processed palm oil), while maintaining theduty on soybean oil, thus making soybean oil more competitive.Since 40% of Indonesia palm oil export to India was CPO, compared to 22%of Malaysia, Indonesia is more adversely affected than Malaysia. Thedevelopments in other oil crops: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA)report of Sept 14, 2001 indicates soybean production in the US in thecoming season is estimated to be higher by three per cent or 77.1 milliontonnes compared to 74.8 million tonnes last year. This represents adecline over USDA earlier estimates. Apparently, the weather conditionsduring planting have not been favourable. This was the reason for anupturn 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.

SHANGHAI, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Producers like Malaysia and Indonesia canhope to sell more palm oil to China despite rising overseas prices becauseimported palm oil is still cheaper than domestic oils, traders said onThursday.China would use up all palm oil quotas in 2001, wiping the slate cleanas it braces to import a huge amount of palm oil next year as requiredunder the terms for joining the World Trade Organisation, they said.China would thus import 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes for the months ofOctober to December, exhausting quotas left over from this year'sallocation of 1.4 million tonnes, analysts said."China will have to finish all the quotas for this year because it willhave to import much more after China joins the WTO, which is happeningsoon," said Liu Aimin, edible oil analyst at Beijing Orient AgribusinessConsultant.China expects to join the world trade body later this year, after whichit is expected to import 2.4 million tonnes of palm oil in 2002 at lowtariffs under a tariff-rate-quota system.By 2006, the tariffs will be dropped and all imports will be subject toa flat duty of nine percent.Traders said they expected the market to use up all the remaining quotasfor 2001 due to steady domestic demand, although overseas prices arefirming.

KUALA LUMPUR,11/05/2001 (AFX-ASIA) - China has agreed to raise the importquota of Malaysian palm oil to 2.80 mln tonnes from the current 1.50 mlnafter joining the World Trade Organisation, Chinese daily Nanyang SiangPau reported quoting deputy Minister of International Trade and IndustryKerk Choo Ting."WTO negotiations on import quotas of our palm oil have been concluded andChina will definitely raise the import of our palm oil within the next fewyear from current 1.50 mln tonnes to 2.80 mln tonnes," Kerk said at afunction of political party Gerakan.He added that Malaysia has already drawn up a new international marketingstrategy for palm oil and this will be announced by Primary IndustriesMinister Lim Keng Yaik in the near future.

BRUSSELS, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled plans onWednesday for fostering biofuel production in Europe in a bid to ensurethey account for two percent of all fuels by 2005.Biofuels are combustible fuels that can be used pure or blended withconventional fuels and are obtained by processing plant oils, sugarbeet,cereals and organic waste materials.The Commission said it had adopted an action plan that aimed at atarget of 20 percent inclusion of biofuels by 2020.European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said the planswould reduce the transport market's dependance on oil-based fuels."This coherent action plan for an alternative fuel strategy fortransport will tackle this over dependance, which is a significant sourceof environmental and supply cornerns for the European Union," she said ina statement.The Commission proposed a two percent minimum level of biofuels as aproportion of all fuels by 2005 and reaching 5.75 percent of all fuelssold by 2010.EU Tax Commissioner Frits Blkestein said a second proposal adopted bythe Commission offers member states the choice of reducing tax rates onpure or blended biofuels used as heating or motor fuel, would act as "animportant incentive for economic operators to turn towards products whichpromote sustainable development".The promotion of biofuel production will also impact the EU's farmingsector, Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler said.He said it could "offer new sources of income" and "become a concretedemonstration of a sustainable, multifunctional agriculture."

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 - Partial data available indicate palm output wassustained at a high plateau almost throughout the whole month of October.Our preliminary estimate shows CPO production rose around 50,000 tonnes or4.5 percent to 1.15 million tonnes.The crop was higher in both East Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia. Theweather was wet and favoured both crop development and ripening. However,forecast of continued wet weather right up to December is likely todisrupt and delay the felling of old palms for replanting. Actualreplanting carried out is now expected to fall far short of the 185,000hectares which had been registered.On an annual basis, CPO production shrank an estimated 2.8 percent orworse than the contraction of 0.9 percent in September. We now estimatethe whole year's production to reach 11.65 million tonnes and 7.5 percenthigher than last year's output of 10.84 million tonnes.Palm oil offtake also turned out to be somewhat better than previousexpectations. Exports rebounded strongly to an estimated 885,000 tonnes inOctober from around 650,000 tonnes in the preceding month. The recoveryreflected chiefly a big increase of nearly 100,000 tonnes to 190,000tonnes in shipments to Europe including Russia.India and Pakistan respectively took some 75,000 tonnes and 65,000tonnes more after having reduced their offtake drastically in September.China remained a good buyer when it took an estimated 155,000 tonnes or15,000 tonnes more than a month earlier. However, contrary to expectationsand market talk, there were no increased offtake by the West Asian/MiddleEast countries ahead of Ramadan.Shipments to ASEAN countries also remained poor. It is significant tonote combined September-October exports at an estimated 1.515 milliontonnes represent a sharp contraction of 280,000 tonnes or 15.6 percentfrom the same period last year. We also project export performance in thenext 2-3 months to continue to register negative growth.Even though price of edible oils and fats are low, consumption hasbeen adversely impacted by the global economic slowdown. This is mostevident in developing countries where unemployment and under-employmentare rising and incomes have dropped sharply. Even the price of crude oilhas dropped to a two-year low of $20.Palm oil stocks registered another substantial buildup at end October.Estimated at 1.38 million tonnes, stocks were up 165,000 tonnes, bringingthe buildup over two months to nearly half a million tonnes. By the end ofthis month we may see stocks reaching 1.4 million tonnes. This would be90,000 tonnes higher than what we had projected early last month.CPO futures had fallen sharply by 450 ringgit from 1,315 ringgit onAugust 8 to 861 ringgit on October 8. Thereafter prices started torecover, with limited success during the second to third week but moreconfidently from the fourth week onward. The turnaround may have beentriggered by India's lowering of tariff values on palm oil on October 9but the recovery only assumed a sustained course when the market becameconfident that exports in October had indeed recovered strongly.Market confidence was further boosted when the Indian governmentfinally cut the import duty on CPO from 75 percent to 65 percent onNovember 1, a move that trimmed off the big advantage that imported SBOhad enjoyed over palm oil in the Indian market since March 1.Yesterday, the January CPO futures contract extended its run-up bysettling at 1,074 ringgit or 44 ringgit higher. This brought cumulativegains since October 22 to 158 ringgit. SBO prices also advanced whilesunoil and canola oil remained firm because of increasingly strongfundamentals.However, given the gloomy global economic outlook, Malaysian palm oilproducers-exporters must intensify their efforts to reduce stocks to morecomfortable levels in the coming months. Malaysia also faces even keenercompetition from Indonesia, morem so when its rupiah had lost more than 13percent of its value against the dollar in the past six weeks.Our next report will be released this Friday ahead of MPOB report onMonday, November 12.(The opinions expressed in this article represent the views of theauthor only. They should not be seen as necessarily reflecting the viewsof Reuters)

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil traders said on Fridaythey expected the government to announce by next week a new quota forduty-free exports of crude palm oil (CPO) after India, the biggest buyer,cut import tariffs.A one million tonne allocation for this year was exhausted in Octoberand a new quota was needed if Malaysia was to shield its market share inIndia from arch-rival Indonesia, they said."I expect the government to announce a CPO export quota by next week,otherwise the Indonesians are going to go for the kill," said a trader ata Kuala Lumpur palm oil brokerage.Malaysia, the world's number one palm oil producer and refiner,traditionally slaps a high export duty on CPO to encourage the sale of oilin its refined form.Indonesia, the second largest producer, by contrast exports most of itsoil raw due to its limited refining capacity.Malaysia's problems began two years ago when India decided to raiseimport duties on refined edible oils such as palm olein, which it buysmostly from Kuala Lumpur, to protect its own oilseed growers from foreigncompetition.The move led to a windfall for Indonesia's exporters of CPO, taxedlower than olein on arrival in India. Not wanting to be outdone, Malaysiahas since allowed duty-free CPO exports not amounting to more than amillion tonnes a year.

MUMBAI, Nov. 2. EDIBLE oil arrivals into the country slowed down furtherin October.According to a quick estimate prepared by Oilmandi.com, a vertical portalof the vegetable oil industry, imports in October aggregated 2.68 lakhtonnes (lt), down from 3.97 lt during September and peak of 6.54 lt inAugust.Broadly,October arrivals comprised 1.05 lt of degummed soyabean oil,74,000 tonnes of crude palm oil and 70,400 tonnes of refined palmolein.Crude sunflower oil accounted for 13,800 tonnes and rapeseed oil 4,000tonnes. This takes the aggregate import during oil year November2000-October 2001 to a new high of 48.13 lt, up from 44.95 lt of theprevious oil year.The fiscal instruments of the Government - high customs duties, fixing oftariff values - have helped contain growth in import volumes, especiallyin the context of sharp decline in domestic oil production during theyear.Due to its low bound rate of duty (45 per cent), soyabean oil has becomethe major gainer. In 2000-01, import volumes of soyaoil doubled to 13.9lt. On the other hand, crude palm oil imports increased by 70 per cent to14.1 lt during the year, despite bearing a high rate of 75 per centcustoms duty after the last Union Budget.