Berita Arkib

KUALA LUMPUR, 24 July 2001 (Business Times) - Owners of oil palmplantations have seven more days to register with the Malaysian Palm OilBoard to receive an incentive of RM1,000 per hectare for replanting oilpalm trees.

Thursday, July 26, 2001 - PALM OIL traders have been advised againsthoarding stock in the hope that prices will further increase in the nearfuture as high production months are up ahead in September and Octoberthis year.According to Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik,although steps taken by his ministry over the last four months hadresulted in palm oil prices escalating to about RM1,200 a tonne, fromRM800, the downward trend could recur."Remember, whatever goes up can come down again," Lim said, adding thatwhile both palm oil and soya oil prices had increased recently, soya oilprices were still higher compared with palm oil's.Lim told reporters this after opening a seminar on medicinal and aromaticplants organised by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia in Kuala Lumpuron Tuesday.According to Lim, it is still possible for palm oil prices to climb higherby an additional RM200 to RM250 a tonne, placing their prices at the samelevel as that of soya oil in international markets.He said, however, that the current price discrepancy was testimony to thefact that palm oil had not been marketed aggressively enough."Plantation firms should also consider diversifying their activities toreduce dependence on a single crop," Lim said, adding that only a fewcompanies had taken up the call.According to Lim, mono-crop planters have in the past been advised towiden their scope of activities and look to cattle rearing or herbalplantation as a supplementary source of income.Unfortunately, he said, the plantation sector had proved to be veryconservative and preferred to "stick only to what they know best.""As Malaysia becomes a high-cost producer, owing to rising labour costs,plantation companies will have to think of other competitive ways to makefull use of the land and its natural resources," Lim said.Using the herbal market as an example, Lim said the herbal and aromaticmarket in Malaysia was valued at RM4.55bil but only 5% of the productsused were sourced locally because there was still the tendency to use oldtechnology which gave little added value to the product.

KUALA LUMPUR July 23 , 2001 10:05AM - An invitation to professionals toreturn home and an idea to recycle palm oil fibre waste prompted anenterprising Malaysian engineer working overseas to spawn a project thatis helping to heal the many areas left scarred by land development.

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CPO set for further volatile trade23/7/01(The Star) - CRUDE PALM OIL futures prices at the MalaysiaDerivatives Exchange (MDEX) resumed its bullish momentum last week andrebounded sharply in early trading, but the upward rally fizzled as theOctober contract failed to hold successfully above the RM1,200 per tonnelevel and encouraged many long position holders to realised their windfallprofits.The October futures contract was lifted from a weekly low of RM1,026 tofresh contract highs at RM1,238 and returned a large portion of itsearlier gains to settled the week higher at RM1,145, up RM65 per tonnefrom a week ago.Based on chart, the October futures prices are set for more wide range andchoppy trading and volatility would likely reign this week considering thelarge amount of short-term money moving in and out of the market motivatedby short-term ideas recently.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded from early lows on Monday as political tension in neighbouring Indonesia sparked talk of supply disruptions, traders said.By the midday break, the third-month October contract eased seven ringgitto 1,140 ringgit ($300) a tonne compared with Friday's closing at 1,147ringgit.

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Sunflower oil may contribute to rise in child asthma7/20/2001- Health conscious parents who choose sunflower oils, spreads andmargarines may be contributing to the asthma epidemic among youngchildren, a study suggests.Researchers have found that a diet high in polyunsaturated fats doublesthe risk of the lung disorder in pre-school children. But because a directlink between fat intake and asthma has not been confirmed, the authors ofthe study said parents should not change their children's diets.The same study of 1,000 children aged three to five also found thatbreastfeeding and large families protected against asthma.Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in Britain over the past fewdecades. One in seven children now suffers from the disorder.The rise in asthma since the 1960s has coincided with many changes inlifestyle and diet including the growth of central heating, fitted carpetsand double glazing. During the 1970s and 1980s sales of saturated animalfat such as butter and lard fell as more and more people turned topolyunsaturated spreads, margarines and oils.The team from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne asked parents tocomplete a questionnaire, which included questions on diet, asthmadiagnosis, their child's medical history and the consumption of fat. Theywere also asked whether their child was breastfed.One in five of the children suffered from asthma. Polyunsaturated fats inmargarine, vegetable and sunflower oils accounted for 17 per cent of thecases studied.Breast-feeding and having three or more older siblings reduced the risk ofasthma. Having a parent with asthma doubled the risk. A seriousrespiratory infection before the age of two increased the risk by 93 percent.Polyunsaturated fats contain two types of fatty acids - omega-3 andomega-6. Omega-6 fatty acids, found in sunflower oil, increase the risk ofinflammation, which could increase the risk of asthma. But omega-3 fattyacids, found in fish, soya bean and flax, have an anti-inflammatoryeffect.Dr Michelle Haby, who reported the findings in the journal Thorax, said:"An increase in omega-6 means less omega-3 fatty acid, which inhibitsinflammation."But at this stage children should not be changing their diet. The studyonly showed an association between polyunsaturated fats and asthma. Wehave not shown that these fats cause asthma, nor do we know whetherchanging the diet will reduce the risk or severity of asthma."Dr Martyn Partridge, chief medical adviser at the National AsthmaCampaign, said more research was needed to establish why asthma wasincreasing."The new evidence in this paper that suggests a reduction inpolyunsaturated fats may also reduce the likelihood of developing asthmais helpful but we are still a long way from being able to say why thisdisease is becoming more common."- by NICOLE MARTIN