20 March, 2003 - MALAYSIA’S palm oil prices are seen to average at betweenRM1,300 and RM1,500 a tonne this year on steady demand and supplies of thecommodity worldwide.

Palm oil prices averaged RM1,365 a tonne last year

Twelve speakers at a leading international palm oil conference havesummarised that palm oil prices will be traded range-bound from as low asRM1,100 a tonne to as high as RM1,700 a tonne for the next nine months.

“We do not expect any more surprises in the market for the year afterfactoring in and studying a host of reasons developing in the industry,both in the country and abroad,” said Malaysian Palm Oil Board directorgeneral Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron.

Yusof was chairing a panel discussion at the end of the 14th Annual Palmand Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition — Price Outlook 2003/2004 inKuala Lumpur yesterday. The three-day event was officiated by PrimaryIndustries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik on Tuesday.

The panel consisted of 12 prominent speakers comprising producers,consumers and observers. They presented working papers concerning theindustry, giving out various forecasts and estimates.

The speakers were Foretell Capital Trust Plc vice-president Nagaraj Meda,United Plantations Bhd vice-chairman and executive director CarlBek-Nielsen, Oevak Bv president Reitze Van Giffen and FPG Oleochemicalsmanaging director Alan Brunskill.

Others were China Food And Agricultural Services president Michael Goettl,United Coconut Association of the Philippines executive director YvonneT.V. Agustin and Oil World magazine editor-in-chief Thomas Mielke.

Speakers also included PT Smart Tbk vice-president director Tan SiauwLiang, Godrej International Ltd director Dorab Mistry and LMCInternational Ltd managing director Dr James Fry.

“Normalcy is expected to return in palm oil production and supply, whichare expected to grow in line with population growth and gross domesticproduction factors in the world market,” Yusof said.

He added that the production and supply of other edible oils and fats,such as rapeseed and soyabean, are also expected to return to normal forthe next nine months after experiencing drought last year. The industrydoes not expect another weather-related disaster this year.

“The possible Iraq war has been factored into the market, and lauric oilswill be more expensive at between US$20 and US$30 a tonne (US$1 =RM3.80),” said Yusof.

Malaysia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, accounting for morethan 50 per cent of the global output. The country produced 11.9 milliontonnes last year, of which 10.8 million tonnes worth RM19.6 billion wereexported to about 140 countries.