Berita Arkib

Kuala Lumpur, September 24, 2001 (The Star) - IOI Group Bhd’s strategy inexpanding its manufacturing business locally and worldwide lies inaggressive marketing to win not only existing customers but also new ones.According to IOI Bhd’s executive director Lee Yeow Chor, the group hasestablished major selling points worldwide to promote its palm oilproducts.“We have set up certain strategic ports in Europe and maintained the brandname Acidchem which is widely known,” said Yeow Chor referring to theoleochemical industry.IOI bought a strategic stake in Palmco Holdings Bhd in March 1997. Palmco,which is the target of a takeover bid by diversified group Sime Darby Bhd,has posted strong results for the year ended June 30, 2001.Its pre-tax profit jumped 62% to RM88.65mil from RM54.45mil previously.Its core oleochemical operations, including its 30% associate FattyChemical (M) Sdn Bhd, has contributed about RM131mil or 93% to the group’searnings.“Many of the oleochemical products are substitutes for petrochemicals.Palm oil is the most attractive substitute and as Malaysia is the largestworld palm oil producer, the oleochemical share (in the palm oil industry)is very important,” said Yeow Chor in an interview in Puchong recently.Malaysia, he contends, has a crucial role to play in the oleochemicalindustry, since the products are widely used in many countries.When CPO prices drifted downwards last year, earnings from theoleochemical sector helped cushioned the negative impact to thebottomlines.Oleochemicals are used in a wide range of products such as cosmetics,perfume and detergents that are necessary for modern living.Such strong earnings potential from the oleochemical industry promptedconglomerate Sime Darby Bhd to make takeover bid on Palmco Holdings whichSime said represented a good synergy with its plantation business.According to an IOI statement, the company intends to retain the listedstatus of Palmco. The deadline for the shareholders’ acceptances isexpected to be on Oct 10.At the end of the day, one institutional investor said the oleochemicalindustry was regaining its brilliance and that the Sime-IOI episode servesas a wake-up call to investors and market players on the tremendouspotential of the oleochemical industry.

17 September 2001 (Business Times) - RIKEVITA (M) Sdn Bhd will beinvesting RM106 million on a new plant to manufacture vegetablebased foodemulsifiers to tap the growing global demand.

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Four power purchase agreements (PPAs)to supply power using renewable energy sources would be signed before theend of the year to produce a total of 23 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

NEW DELHI, (Sept. 18) - SOYABEAN production is expected to fall to 51lakh tonnes (lt) this year, from last year's level of 53.04 lt,notwithstanding an increase in acreage from 58.12 lakh hectares to 60.02lakh hectares, according to the latest projections made by the SoyabeanProcessors Association of India (SOPA).

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Siemens Power Generation (Siemens PG),one of the premier companies in the international power generation sector,had been approached by a few parties in Malaysia which are interested inits techology and expertise in relation to utilisation of biomass forpower generation projects.Alfons Frank, Siemens Power Generation's head of plant acquisition,industrial turbines and power plants said that there are between three andfour proposed biomass projects in Malaysia.

20 September 2001 (Business Times) - TENAGA Nasional Bhd will enter intofour separate deals by year-end to buy power from plants that are fuelledby renewable resources like biomass and gas produced from landfills.

NEW DELHI (20/9/200) - STUNG by rising edible oil imports and only asmall increase expected in kharif oilseeds crop, government has prepareda blueprint on derived oilseeds like cotton and perennial crops likecoconut and oil palm to increase the domestic production.

HYDERABAD, (Sept. 18) - THE soya crop in the country is in a criticalphase at present and if there are no rains in a couple of days, the cropoutput is estimated to decline drastically. A prolonged dry spell isaffecting the crop which currently at pod formation stage.

SUKKUR, Sept 17 (Asia Pulse) - The Pakistan Oilseeds Development Board(PODB) in Sindh plans to import 100,000 seedlings of oil-palm fromMalaysia in the current year, in order to meet the growing demand in thecoastal districts of Thatta (Sindh) and Uthal (Balochistan).The PODB's director in Sindh, Waris Shaikh, said the board had a balancequantity of 37,518 plants and there was a demand for 71,000 plants inthese two districts.He said in addition to promoting the non-traditional oilseed crops in thecountry, the PODB was also concentrating on the introduction of oil-palmplantations in the coastal belt of Sindh and Balochistan, in collaborationwith the Malaysian government.The PODB director said there was a great potential for oil-palm sowing inthe coastal belt of Thatta, Badin, and Uthal.He said that in 1998-99, the PODB imported 135,000 oil-palm seedlings fromthe Malaysian Palm-oil Board, which are kept in two nurseries of Gharonear Thatta in Sindh and Uthal in Balochistan.He said both nurseries are in good condition. The plantation was made onprivate, public sector and state lands, he added.

HANOI, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Minister of International Trade and IndustryDatuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said the concept of an Asean Free Trade Area(AFTA) has almost been realised with 98 percent of the products tradedamong the six original members being subject to reduced tariffs under theCommon Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme.

New Delhi, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Edible oil imports in August this yearreached an all-time high of 654,000 tonnes in India.

JELEBU,16 September 2001 - The RM1 billion fund approved by the Governmentin April to help rubber and oil palm smallholders badly hit by the fall incommodity prices has not been fully utilised.