PETALING JAYA: PPB Group Bhd’s 55% subsidiary, Chemquest Sdn Bhd, has secured three sewerage and water treatment projects worth more than RM100mil each under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

The projects would last until 2009, PPB Group executive chairman Datuk Oh Siew Nam said.

The group’s solid waste and water treatment division was also bidding for RM200mil worth of such projects, he told a press briefing on the group’s first half results ended June 30, yesterday.

As for Chemquest’s foray into China, Oh said this had been put on hold for the division to concentrate on 9MP projects.

There was also the possibility of PPB Group using its RM700mil cash on the balance sheet to make acquisitions this year.

“When market prices are good, we will look at acquisitions,” Oh said.

Oh reiterated that the group expected profits…

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JAKARTA: Talks on forging a new world trade deal will resume in Geneva next week with a push on agriculture, where there is already widespread agreement, Indonesia’s trade minister said on Tuesday.

But disagreement among both developed and developing countries on proposals to boost trade in industrial goods means a draft deal there would need to be reworked before talks on that area can resume in earnest, Mari Pangestu told Reuters.

“We’re going to be negotiating
agriculture first,” Pangestu, a respected economist and expert on trade and development, said.

The talks were launched in 2001 to stimulate the world economy through increased trade opportunities. But the complex negotiations have floundered because of unwillingness to cut subsidies and open up sensitive markets.

Diplomats and officials at the Geneva headquarters of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will make another effort from next week to…

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* Palm oil is more than 12 percent off an historic high 2,764 ringgit reached in June

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian crude palm oil futures were largely unchanged on Tuesday, with the market divided over the supply outlook following comments by the country’s commodities minister.

The minister expects higher palm oil prices because of tight global supplies but countered this by announcing an indefinite delay in introducing palm biodiesel to the domestic market. By the midday break, the benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up three ringgit at 2,424 ringgit per tonne ($694).

“First, the minister says that palm oil prices will be high because of biodiesel demand and tight supply but he also says that Malaysia is not going to introduce palm diesel any time soon because of the prices,” said one trader. “The market sees these developments as negating one…

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MUMBAI: The buzz about ITC plunging into the highly penetrated toilet soap market is getting louder by the day.
It is learnt that the cigarette-to-hotels major is eyeing the mass segment of the soap category, which is why some existing players are said to be sitting on old stock and holding on to the price line.

Sources said ITC plans to unveil its soap brand in the next two-three months. The name of the brand is being kept closely under wraps, and, it is not going to be the same brand, Superia, which the company was test marketing over a year ago in some rural areas, sources added.

A senior industry official told TOI: “Companies are holding on to the price line for the moment, despite pressure building on the raw material price front. We don’t want to get caught in a situation where we raise prices…

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LONDON (SHARECAST) - Soaring crude palm oil prices helped Anglo-Eastern record a doubling of interim profits and should enable the palm oil producer to post significantly better full-year figures.

Pre-tax profit for the first half of 2007 rose to $17.3m from $8.5m in the first half of 2006. A 40% rise in crude palm oil (CPO) prices between January and June was the main driver of profits growth, but profitability was adversely affected by the drought in Sumatra which has caused crude palm oil production in the first half of 2007 to be 12% below expectations.

Revenue grew 37% to $44.1m, but this included the forward sale of some 33% of the group’s anticipated 2007 output at an average price of $604 per metric ton, $79 below the market average CPO price for the first six months of 2007. This forward selling was…

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KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) — As a world leader in oil palm research, Malaysia plays an active role in developing new technologies and research findings related to the palm oil industry.

In this regard, MPOB International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC) will continue to be an important platform for information sharing on technological breakthrough in the palm oil industry, according to the Director-General of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Datuk Dr Mohd Basri Wahid.

He said apart from putting together a comprehensive technical programme within five conferences, encompassing more than 150 papers and 162 exhibition booths, the importance of PIPOC had also been enhanced this year.

PIPOC 2007, which officially started Tuesday, had been able to successfully put together prominent speakers, both local and international who are experts in the oil and fats industry, he said at a dinner for the participants at the…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) — Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui Tuesday launched the Codes of Practice for the Malaysian palm oil industry at the International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC 2007) here.

Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman Datuk Sabri Ahmad described this as a significant move towards ensuring the production of the highest quality Malaysian palm oil products.

The implementation of the codes, which incorporate several elements of hygiene, food safety and quality, and traceability, is imperative in view of the growing food safety concerns among the importing countries, he said.

“The implementation of these certifications will augur well for our efforts to instil a novel approach in the production of premium quality palm oil with the concept of sustainability,” he added.

Sabri said the codes will be implemented on a voluntary basis.

MPOB also today launched its Coffee Table…

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KUALA LUMPUR,

Crude palm oil prices will not fall from the present high level of RM2,400-RM2,700 per tonne, at least until next year, due to lower production and high demand, said Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

“The price will stay buoyant over the immediate future until we can increase supply,” he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Palm Oil Board International Palm Oil Congress here today.

He said the price was too high and was dictated by the market.

“If given a magic wand, I will bring it down to maybe RM2,300 per tonne. I don’t have that magic wand, and it is the market place that determines the price,” he said.

Chin said it was not just palm oil price that was high, but also other products like soyabean, crude oil and other leading oils and fats.

He…

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KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) — Floods in the oil palm-growing state of Johor coupled with a low production cycle will reduce crude palm oil (CPO) production this year to less than 16 million tonnes from the forecast 16.5 million tonnes.

Production of fresh fruit bunches has been adversely affected by the floods in Johor and the cyclical low output at the end of every five years, said Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) chairman Datuk Sabri Ahmad Tuesday.

The industry is expecting production to be lower than the 15.8 million tonnes recorded last year, he said at a press conference after Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui opened MPOB’s International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC) 2007 here.

“There is a possibility that it may not even reach 14 million tonnes,” Sabri added.

In the first six months, CPO production stood at 6.7 million tonnes.

–…

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KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) — The Malaysian Biofuel Industry Act, which among others, will promote the use of biofuel, or better known as EnvoDiesel, is awaiting the cabinet “green light” for implementation.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui, however, said the timing must be right as the current high price of biofuel’s raw material — refined, bleached and deodorised palm olein at about RM2,700 per tonne — had made it unwise to implement the Act now.

“This (the current high of raw material) has made the EnvoDiesel more expensive and unsuitable for commercial usage at the moment,” he told reporters after opening the International Palm Oil Congress here today.

Chin said if the olein’s prices were to fall to RM2,000 and below in the immediate future then the government would seriously decide on the exact date to implement the Act. Right now…

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