Berita Arkib

HAMBURG, Nov 5 (Reuters) -China's edible oil imports - especially soyand palm oils - are set to reach record levels in the second half of 2002as domestic production cannot keep up with rising demand, Hamburg-basednewsletter Oil World said.It forecast China will import 440,000 tonnes of soyoil alone betweenOctober and December this year, up from only 52,000 tonnes in the sametime in 2001. Palm oil imports in this period will rise to 640,000 tonnesfrom 572,000 tonnes the same time a year ago."Domestic supplies have tightened and this makes it imperative to raiseimports of soybeans and oil to bridge the supply gap of other commoditiesand satisfy domestic demand," the newsletter said.It added: "As domestic demand for oils and meals continues to expand,Chinese importers will have to look for replacements such as importationof soybeans for crushing in China and imports of soya oil, palm oil andsoybean meal."China restricted imports of all genetically-modified (GM) food in Marchbut this is unlikely to stop the rise in purchases in the remaining weeksof this year. "There are more and more indications that the whole GM issuehas considerably eased," it said."Record palm and soyoil imports will therefore lead to a pronouncedbuildup of stocks at the end of December," it said."It can be expected that Chinese imports of soy and palm oils will declineto a very low level in January and probably February 2003 before theyresume their up trend for the remainder of this season."

MANILA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The tight copra supply in the Philippines,which led to lower coconut oil exports in October, is expected to worsenin coming months, traders said on Monday.Preliminary data from the United Coconut Association of the PhilippinesInc released last week said Philippine coconut oil exports fell in Octoberto 87,200 tonnes, compared with 105,444 tonnes shipped in October lastyear.Copra is the dried coconut meat from which coconut oil is extracted."It was due to lower production of copra which led to slowing down ofcrushing by other mills," said one trader."The copra supply is expected to get tighter in coming months due tothe low production cycle," he added.The Philippines is the world's largest exporter of coconut oil. Thecountry shipped 99,446 tonnes of coconut oil in September this year.Traders estimated the country's copra production in 2002 at 2.2 milliontonnes, down from 2.85 million tonnes produced in 2001."However, if El Nino won't hit us, I think the supply in 2003 shouldrecover," said one trader."It was supposed to be this time already, but so far, there is nosign," he said.El Nino, which has previously caused drought in the region, wasexpected to hit the Philippines in the fourth quarter.El Nino, "little boy" in Spanish, the four yearly phenomenon stems fromunusually high sea temperatures in the Pacific, and goes on to distortweather patterns worldwide.

JERANTUT, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Replanting of oil palm trees has pushed upthe price of palm oil in the global market, said Primary IndustriesMinister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.He said as of July this year, some 165,000 hectares of oil palm trees,aged some 25 years, had been felled and replanted nationwide.

SIBU, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Local industries in the state should make effortsto adopt cleaner production technology to minimize waste production,Assistant Minister of Public Health and Environment Dr Soon Choon Tecksaid Thursday.By so doing, they would help in preserving and keeping the environmentfree from pollution particularly in the long run, he said after opening aseminar to introduce the concept of "Clean Technology for CleanerProduction" jointly organised by the Department of Environment (DOE) andthe state's Natural Resource and Environment Board (NREB) here.

JAKARTA, Nov 7, 2002 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government said it mullsincreasing the export duty on crude palm oil (CPO), the raw material forcooking oil, during the current festive season, as a step to meet theneeds of local processing plants.Minister of Industry and Trade Rini M.S. Suwandi said an increase inexport duty would help limit the export of the commodity and thus ensureits availability to local cooking oil producers, the daily Jakarta Postreported here Thursday.The measure would also in turn ensure stable cooking oil prices during theIdul Fitri, the end of Ramadan, which started Wednesday, as well asChristmas festivals.However, the minister said that the government would not raise the duty iflocal CPO producers agreed to ensure sufficient supplies for localprocessing plants. If, conversely, the CPO producers could not guaranteesupplies, the government would hike the export duty, he said.Currently, the Indonesian government imposes a three percent tax on CPOexports, and a one percent tax on refined, bleached and deodorized palmolein exports.Indonesia is the second largest CPO producing country following Malaysiain the world. The country has set a target of producing about nine milliontons of CPO this year, up from last year's 8.3 million tons. Of the totaloutput, about 5.5 million tons are stocked for exports.Indonesia's CPO producers have been increasing their exports in the lastseveral months in view of the steady increase of international prices ofthe commodity.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- Moscow-based Badr Forte Bank, the firstand only Russian Islamic bank, today announced that the first number oftransactions involving palm oil products export from Malaysia to Russiawere being finalised.In a statement Friday, the bank said the transactions will be insuredunder an export credit insurance facility provided by Malaysian ExportCredit & Insurance Berhad (MECIB).

Brazil, Nov 5, 2002 (COMTEX) -- Malaysian companies are planning to investin the production of palm oil in Brazil. The investment plan should besimilar to the one promoted in 2001 in Venezuela, of US$100mil. Brazilproduces 100,000 m tons of palm oil and consumes 170,000 m tons.Meanwhile, the largest palm oil producer of Brazil, Agropalma, will expandproduction at 53% over the next three years. The company expects to reach2005 with a production of 130,000 m tons of oil. In 2002, Agropalmapredicts 85,000 an increase of 18% compared to the 72,000 m tons producedin 2001.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Using gold dinar can boost the palm oilmarket among the Islamic countries, Deputy Minister of Primary IndustriesDatuk Anifah Haji Aman, said here Thursday."In terms of the industry itself, at least the Islamic countries can tradefreely by using this as a trade settlement mechanism," he said at a"Business Matching Session with Iranian Delegation" organised by the MalayBusinessmen & Industrialists Association of Malaysia (PERDASAMA), towelcome the delegation.

PUTRAJAYA, Khamis, 30/10/02(Berita Harian) - Malaysia akan terus kerugianpurata lebih RM1.79 bilion setahun jika masih gagal meningkatkanpengeluaran minyak sawit kepada sekurang-kurangnya empat tan sehektarsetahun.

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Palm oil, which is enjoying good price, isexpected to strengthen further in the future months based on the demandfrom the major markets, said Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr LimKeng Yaik here Thursday."Major markets like India, is expected to increase its imports to caterthe Deepavali celebration, apart from its decreasing vegetable oilproduction due to the dry season in the country," he said at the Oil PalmSmallholders 2002 national conference.The two-day conference organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB),is themed "Strategy Towards Strengthening and Future of the Oil PalmSmallholders.""Apart from this, China needs to use the balance of its palm oil importquota for this year, and the fact that supply of fats and vegetable oilsare expected to decrease in the next few months," he said.Dr Lim said that the price of palm oil currently stood at RM1,520 pertonne which was much better than the RM700 per tonne recorded at onestage.He said that Malaysia always hoped for the best for the industry but theups and downs of price was normal in the trading of agriculturalcommodity."What is important is that the smallholders involved must optimise theirproduction and minimise production costs. To achieve high productivity,smallholders require knowledge, sufficient skils and inputs," he said.To help the smallholders enhance their productivity, he said that MPOB haslaunched a programme where 50 officers were appointed to give technicaladvice to the smallholders who are not getting such advice from othergovernment agencies. -- BERNAMA

KUCHING, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Sarawak is expected to develop a total of onemillion hectares of oil palm plantation by 2010.The staggered development will take in 30,000 hectares of Native CustomaryRights (NCR) land and 40,000 hectares of state land per annum.Sarawak Rural and Land Development assistant minister, Datuk Gramong Junatold the State Legislative Assembly Thursday that this meant that a totalof 750,000 hectares of land in Sarawak would be cultivated with the cashcrop in the next five years."Up to now about 400,000 hectares have been planted with oil palm trees,"he said when replying to Lee Kim Shin (BN-Senadin) during question time.He said the Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB), which is responsible for theresearch and development (R&D), had come with 30 new products/findings.including palm-based polyurethanes, crayons, grease and various personalcare extractions.MPOB continued to show progress in the development of high quality mediumdensity fibreboard from oil palm fibre with the establishment of its pilotplant while technology for using its fibre in road-making was alsointroduced.He said in food application, high-energy biscuit formulated with mediumchain triglycerides, low calorie bakery margarine and high-fibre chocolatehad been introduced using palm oil as an ingredient.Various methods for controlling pests in the plantation were also madeavailable to the industry such as the use of cassia cobanensis asbeneficial plant for bagworm control. -- BERNAMA

(Berita harian) - KONSEP timbal balas yang digunakan dalam pembeliansenjata ketenteraan tidak terhad kepada kelapa sawit saja, sebaliknyaturut membabitkan komoditi lain termasuk getah, kelapa kering, koko danproduk elektronik.Timbalan Menteri Pertahanan, Datuk Shafie Apdal, berkata tujuan utamakonsep itu ialah bagi memperoleh pulangan ekonomi yang maksimum melaluipasaran komoditi di negara terbabit.Selain itu katanya, konsep itu juga membantu mengurangkan aliran keluarmata wang negara.“Contohnya dalam perolehan kapal selam, komponen timbal balas adalahsebanyak 35 peratus daripada keseluruhan nilai kontrak iaitu 25 peratusmembabitkan komoditi kelapa sawit dan 10 peratus lagi komoditi laintermasuk perkhidmatan," katanya menjawab soalan Muhyidin Abdul Rashid(PAS-Hulu Terengganu) di Dewan Rakyat, semalam.Shafie berkata, elemen timbal balas itu juga akan diambil kita dalam semuapembelian peralatan besar lain yang masih dalam peringkat perundingan.Menjawab soalan tambahan Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Omar (BN-Larut),beliau berkata, timbal balas itu dilaksanakan mengikut perundingan dengannegara pembekal dan berasaskan permintaan mereka.“Jika mereka mahukan produk koko atau kelapa sawit, negara pembekal ituakan masukkan kedua-dua komoditi itu dalam perjanjian. Jika dulu baranganitu tidak mempunyai pasaran di negara berkenaan tetapi melalui perjanjianitu secara tidak langsung kita dapat memperkenalkan produk kita.“Melalui perjanjian berkenaan, kita turut mengambil kira kecanggihannegara pembekal yang mengeluarkan peralatan ketenteraan itu, selainpertukaran teknologi berkaitan,” katanya.Menjawab soalah tambahan Muhyidin, Shafie berkata, rakyat tidak perlubimbang dengan penubuhan Pusat Latihan Serantau Bagi Mencegah Keganasan dinegara ini kerana ia bertujuan mengiktiraf terhadap usaha berterusan pihakberkuasa menangani masalah keganasan termasuk kes lanun, penculikan danpenyeludupan.“Kita tak perlu takut dengan penubuhan pusat itu, orang yang takut adalahpengganas kerana mereka yang akan ditahan. Penubuhan itu adalahpengiktirafan terhadap pendekatan sistematik yang kita guna sejak dululagi,” katanya.