KUCHING, March 27 (Bernama) — Swee Joo Bhd, a Sarawak- based public-listed shipping and shipping-related group, Thursday announced that it is going big into the transportation of crude palm oil (CPO) products with a larger fleet of tankers for domestic and regional trade.

Group managing director Sim Mong Hong said its wholly-owned subsidiary Asia Bulkers Sdn Bhd currently has a 7,000-metric tonne (MT) chemical tanker and will be taking delivery within the next six months of three chemical tankers of between 7,000 and 12,700 MT capacity each for its expanding regional routes.

Total investment in the new tankers, currently under construction in China, was US$50 million, he said at a press conference here.

Sim said Malaysia’s current monthly CPO production amounted to 1.1 million tonnes and Swee Joo wanted its shipping and transporation services to expand along with this growth in the…

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KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysia’s oil palm industry is urging the government to abolish the scheme that requires industry players to subsidize the price of cooking oil, which has put a dent in their margins, the New Straits Times reported Thursday.

The price of cooking oil is capped at 2.50 ringgit per kilogram, which is significantly lower than the global price.

The government implemented the cooking oil subsidy scheme last June in a bid to help the cooking oil industry to cope with surginga crude plm oil (CPO) prices, which have scaled new highs in tandem with other edible oils.

A monthly levy is imposed on growers with plantations of more than 40 hectares when the CPO price is above 1,500 ringgit per ton. For every additional 100 ringgit that a ton of CPO fetches, growers must pay a levy of 2 ringgit.

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The Star

Thursday March 27, 2008

Asiatic Development Bhd is looking to expand its palm oil plantations, said chief operating officer Yong Chee Kong.

“We are always on the lookout for opportunities. We have not decided where we will be expanding to but we are open (to opportunities),” he said.

Yong said Asiatic was also looking at expanding its non-plantation business, as ideally it wanted all its divisions to make significant contributions.

“Our property division is improving but is overshadowed by our plantation division due to the high selling prices,” he said.

Yong expects crude palm oil (CPO) price at RM2,800 to RM3,200 per tonne this year.

“We expect our output to rise to 272,000 tonnes this year from 250,000 last year. We are also looking at improving our oil extraction rate to 21% this year,” he added.

Yong said the group spent about…

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March 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka based makers of vanaspati ghee or hydrogenated vegetable oil who exported to India under a free trade deal said they faced closure after India slashed duty on imported vegetable oils.

India dropped import duty on palm oil on March 20 to in a bid to check rising domestic prices, making Sri Lankan manufactured palm oil based vanaspati no longer competitive, manufacturers said in a statement Wednesday.

“The 14 companies manufacturing and exporting to India under the Indo-Sri Lanka free trade agreement will be compelled to close the factories temporarily until alternative avenues are found for export to other countries,” the Vanaspati Manufacturers Association said in a statement.

“The last nail was driven into the coffin for export of vanaspati bakery shortening and margarine to India under…

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www.thenews.com.pk

By By Saad Hasan
3/27/2008 KARACHI: Pakistan Oilseed Development Board (PODB) has started work on a big pilot project to cultivate palm trees in Balochistan to see if Pakistan’s reliance on imported edible oil could be reduced.

The project that involves plantation of palm trees over 12,000 acres of land in District Uthal is very significant since the price of palm oil in the international market has surged to a record high, PODB Project Director Waris Sheikh told The News on Wednesday.

“Local production of edible oil is only 30 per cent of total consumption,” he said. “And most of it is met from cotton, sunflower and canola seeds.” Pakistan’s total consumption of edible oil is three million tonnes and it pays hundreds of millions of dollars annually on import of palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia to meet large part of…

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To invest Rs 230 cr over 3 years

Mumbai, March 26 KS Oils, an integrated edible oil company, has acquired 50,000 acres of palm plantation in Indonesia with an investment of Rs 230 crore. The investment, spread over three years, will be routed through its wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore.

Mr Ramesh Chand Garg, Chairman, KS Oils, said, “With spiralling commodity and raw material prices, owning a raw material source is the right strategy to de-risk in the long term. This is another important step in our global ambitions.”

The plantation is expected to yield palm oil of about 80,000 tonnes annually, which is about 2.3 per cent of India’s current imports of 3.6 million tonnes per annum.

Integrated player

KS Oils is the first Indian company which has invested in palm plantations in Indonesia. The…

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