Thursday March 4, 2004 - PRIMARY Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr LimKeng Yaik has again raised the issue of crude palm oil (CPO) being tradedat a high discount of between US$140 and US$150 per tonne versus itsclosest rival, soy oil, despite the current bullishness of the CPO price.

I believe the price of CPO can go higher if the world market abolishes thediscriminatory discount, he told reporters after officiating at theMalaysia Derivatives Exchange Bhd's (MDEX) Annual Palm & Lauric OilsConference and Exhibition: Price Outlook 2004/2005 (POC 2004/2005) inKuala Lumpur yesterday.

Given the fact that Malaysia's CPO stocks are relatively low at about 1.07million tonnes at end-January, and palm oil's superior properties in bothedible and non-edible applications, this current discount level is totallyunjustified, he said.

Dr Lim reminded palm oil industry players not to become complacent giventhe current high price, because complacency is a major threat to continuedviability and players must strive to reduce cost of production to remaincompetitive in the world market.

Earlier, KLSE Bhd chief executive officer and MDEX director Yusli MohamedYusoff said he expected continued growth for the securities andderivatives markets this year.

He said while the KLSE Composite Index recently reached a four-year high(of 894 points on Tuesday), it had been just as exciting'' in thederivatives market, which saw trading volume hitting an historical high of246,554 contracts in October last year. This compares with the previoushigh of 187,799 contracts in July 2003.

The two-day conference, held annually, attracted more than 1,300participants.