MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Moody’s Investors Service said it has started Agri International Resources Pte Ltd (AIRPL) with a ‘B2′ corporate family rating on tie-ups with Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk (BSP), which will manage AIRPL’s plantations and crushing mills for annual management and marketing fees.

Moody’s said oulook for the rating is stable.

The ratings agency said the rating reflects a guarantee from BSP to off-take 100 pct of the crude palm oil and palm kernel produced by AIRPL’s operating subsidiary, Agri Resources, at market prices and will likely become a major shareholder of AIRPL’s plantation operation with an option to increase its shareholding to 51 pct from the current 20 pct.

The rating also recognizes the potential yield and productivity improvements in the palm oil plantations under BSP management and the favourable state of industry fundamentals, Moody’s said.

It also said AIRPL has…

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Posted by Giles Clark, London

Sterling Biofuels International Limited has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a palm oil mill in the Lahad Datu region of Malaysia where its biodiesel plant is located. According to the company, the development of the mill will be undertaken jointly with an, as yet unamed, local partner who will provide access to minimum quantities of raw material (ie oil palm fruit bunches) for the mill. This is required for the purposes of obtaining a mill licence.

Under the terms of the agreement Sterling, which will own 70% of the joint venture, will manage the construction and subsequent operations of the mill. During the initial phase, the mill’s capacity will be 45 tonnes per hour but this will increase to 90 tonnes per hour after the second phase. When completed, the…

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By Claire Leow and Pratik Parija

Bloomberg News

GOA, India: Palm oil futures in Malaysia may advance as much as 15 percent during the next year because of rising demand and a shortfall in supplies of vegetable oils, Dorab Mistry, a director at Godrej International, said Sunday.

Prices might climb to up to 3,000 ringgit, or $870, a ton in the year ending Sept. 30, 2008, Mistry said during a conference in Goa. Earlier this year, he had predicted that prices would surpass 2,500 ringgit this year. Mistry has traded vegetable oils since 1976.

Vegetable oils are increasingly used in biofuels as crude oil prices have tripled to a record in five years. U.S. farmers have planted more corn to meet demand for ethanol, pushing sowings of soybeans to a 12-year low. Malaysia and Indonesia…

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New Delhi, Sept. 26 (PTI): Soyabean and palm oil prices firmed up in the oils and oilseeds market on Tuesday on stockists’ buying triggered by a surge in their prices in global markets.

Soyabean and soya oils were in keen demand among vanaspati millers and retailers on account of the festive season.

These oils also surged following a rise in futures trading volumes on the on the NCDEX amid reports of soybean and palm oils gaining ground in producing countries like Malaysia.

On the other hand, non-edible oils remained flat in thin trade.

Soyabean refined mill delivery gained Rs 30 at Rs 5030 a quintal on higher outside advices. Soyabean degum (Delhi) followed suit and traded higher at Rs 4880 a quintal. Palm oil also rose by Rs 50 at Rs 5,000 per quintal.

Cottonseed mill delivery oil…

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BURSA MALAYSIA DERIVATIVES BHD
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Source from The Star

The Crude Palm Oil Futures Closing: Monday, September 24 2007

(Prices are in RM/tonne)

MONTH	OPEN	HIGH	LOW	SETT	Vol	O.P
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Business Times

Tuesday - September 25, 2007

CPO FUTURES

Crude palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd closed at a near four-month high yesterday, boosted by strong soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, dealers said.

The benchmark third-month contract, Dec 2007, settled RM69 higher at RM2,675 per tonne.

Among other contracts, Oct 2007 surged RM64 to RM2,685 per tonne, Nov 2007 went up RM39 to RM2,680 and Jan 2008 climbed RM70 to RM2,670.

“The market ended in a bullish trend today because of higher soyoil prices,” a dealer said, noting that the forecast by top industry analyst Dorab Mistry, that global palm oil prices may touch RM3,000 per tonne in the near term, had also provided support to the CPO prices.

At close, overall volume stood at 14,667 lots, up from last Friday’s 12,653 lots, while open interest fell to 50,168 contracts versus…

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The Star

Tuesday - September 25, 2007

by Yvonne Tan

Petaling Jaya

Palm oil futures closed at a near four-month high yesterday, fuelled by prospects of rising demand and a supply shortage.

Palm oil for December delivery gained RM69, or 2.7%, to RM2,675, palm oil for October added RM64 to RM2,685 per tonne, November was up RM39 at RM2,680 while delivery for January 2008 climbed RM70 to RM2,670.

Yesterday’s prices were also boosted by strong soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The demand for palm oil to make biofuel looks set to increase as crude oil trades near record prices.

Although crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 61 US cents, or 0.8%, to US$81.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as at press time yesterday, it is not far off from the commodity’s record high registered last week.

On Sept 20,…

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Commodity Online
PANAJI: Edible oil prices will go up further due to reports of lower oil seed production, says industry expert Thomas Mielke, editor of the Oil World publication.

While speaking at a conference here Mielke said world over oilseed output is expected to fall. The global output will be 391 million tonnes in October 2008, 13 million tonnes less than previous year’s outoput.

Lower production in Australia, China, Europe and North America are the main cause, Mielke said. The projected decline in world production “of 10 oilseeds by around 13 million tonnes is unprecedented,” he said.

The oilseed output had been rising globally since 1995. In 1995 production was 257 million tonnes and it increased gradually to 404 million tonnes in 2007.

Another reason he cited fro the price hike was the use of palm and soy oils for production of biofuels. Palm oil, mostly…

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25 Sep, 2007

NEW DELHI: Brunei Darussalam, part of the 10-member Asean group, has demanded that India should cut import duties on oil and natural gas as part of the proposed India-Asean free trade agreement (FTA).

While India is in no mood to consider the demand, at least not for the group as a whole, the development doesn’t augur well for the negotiations, already facing turbulence over inclusion of sensitive agriculture items like palm oil, coffee, tea and pepper.

Commerce ministry sources told ET that Brunei, which is rich in oil & natural gas but doesn’t have any other significant indigenous industry, had recently proposed that oil & natural gas, too, be made part of the India-Asean FTA. This means India should take on commitments for gradual lowering of import duties on natural gas with the objective of eliminating them…

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Renewable Power & Light issued interim results for the six months to 30 June today, however events subsequent to the period end have caused the Company great difficulty and bashed the share price.

Renewable Power & Light which was only established in 2006 as an independent producer of renewable power, announced in July that Safari Group, its principal palm oil supplier, would be unable to perform under the existing terms of its contract due to increases in the cost of Palm Oil over the contractual supply price, which in turn undermines Renewable Power & Light’s own business plan.

The company commenced legal action against Safari which it has now been advised is not actually worth pursuing.

Although alternative feedstock supplies are being pursued the statement did not say how soon they would or could be obtained.

The notes to the accounts disclosed that in the period to June…

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