Business Times

Friday, August 29, 2008

CPO FUTURES

MALAYSIAN crude palm oil futures ended down more than 1 per cent after a volatile trading day yesterday, with some players starting to unwind positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, dealers said.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell RM32 to close at RM2,503 (US$739) a tonne. It hit a session low of RM2,452 and a high of RM2,558.

“In Malaysia, Monday is a holiday so everybody is book-squaring or making their positions even ahead of the three-day holiday,” said a dealer at a foreign brokerage firm.

Other traded months fell between RM1 to RM60, except March and July contracts, which rose RM15 and RM24 ringgit, respectively.

Overall volume stood at 15,924 lots of 25 tonnes each.

Oil rose towards US$120 a barrel yesterday, its fourth…

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Weevil research leads to big boost for industry

By Joanna Skailes

Published: 28/08/2008

AN ABERDEEN-BORN man has won a prestigious award for his contribution to Malaysia.

Leslie Davidson spent much of his working life developing oil palm plantations in the country and now he has been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the country.

Described as one of the giants of the industry in the second half of the 20th century, Mr Davidson was the only non-Malaysian to be honoured in the inaugural Merdeka awards.

He has already been given the title Datuk – the Malaysian equivalent of a knighthood – and will fly out to a ceremony in November.

The awards were founded last year by oil and gas firms Petronas, ExxonMobil and Shell to recognise lasting contributions to Malaysia.

Mr Davidson, 77, said: “I was quite surprised. I…

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Commodity Online
Malaysia is desperately trying to market its palm oil as a different entity in the world market with the European Union and other nations looking at south Asian oil with suspicion.

The European nations have been blaming south Asian nations for resorting to deforestation to grow palm plantations causing severe environmental problems.

Concerned over this allegation, Malaysia has decided to brand its palm oil saying that palm plantations in the country are grown on genuine agriculture land.

With the branding, Malaysia hopes to increase its sales. With Malaysia’s commitment towards sustainability, and to continue palm oil industry’s growth, there is urgent need to differentiate the country’s palm oil from that of other producers in the world, said Yusof Basiron, chief executive of Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Moreover, the European Union plans to put in place strict regulations on using vegetable oils…

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MUMBAI: Nearly 33% decline in crude palm oil (CPO) prices over the past two months has prompted small and medium-sized edible oil companies to set up refineries at ports to cut down on the cost of logistics.

Larger firms already have their refinery units at the ports, and are now considering expanding their fractionation capacities to improve their margins. Fractionation is a process by which the refined palm oil is further split to get liquid olein (used for frying) and solid portion called stearin used in vanaspati and soaps.

Since June CPO has come down by $400 per tonne to current levels at $800. Considering that India imports over half of its edible oil requirements and major imports are of palm oil this is a good incentive to enter port-based refining business and expand capacities, believe the market players.

A prominent edible oil trader, Sandeep…

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JAKARTA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down more than 1 percent after a volatile trading day on Thursday, with some players starting to unwind positions ahead of a long holiday weekend, dealers said.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange KPOc3 fell 32 ringgit to close at 2,503 ringgit ($739) a tonne.

It hit a session low of 2,452 ringgit and a high of 2,558 ringgit.

“In Malaysia, Monday is a holiday so everybody is book-squaring or making their positions even ahead of the three-day holiday,” said a dealer at a foreign brokerage firm.

Other traded months fell between 1 to 60 ringgit, except March and July contracts, which rose 15 and 24 ringgit, respectively.

Overall volume stood at 15,924 lots of 25 tonnes each.

Oil rose towards $120 a barrel…

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By Dorab Mistry
I have had a very good run over the last 30 months with each of my crude palm oil price forecasts coming true. The last one made 90 days ago for palm oil prices to reach 4000 ringgits by the end of June very nearly verified but missed its target narrowly.

However, I must confess that my medium term forecast for CPO prices to reach 4500 Ringgits by February 2009 was over-optimistic and that I got the market wrong. The only way we can get to 4500 Ringgits by February 2009 is if we immediately run into an El Nino situation or if Nymex WTI crude oil prices flare up to beyond US$ 150 per barrel or if the Ringgit collapses. Since neither of these possibilities is very likely,

I must say today that my forecast for CPO to reach 4500 Ringgits by February…

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Business Times

Thursday, August 28, 2008

CPO FUTURES

JAKARTA: Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 3.8 per cent yesterday, recovering some of this week’s losses due to improved demand and rebounding crude oil prices, dealers said.

Malaysian palm oil futures have tumbled nearly 45 per cent since a record high in March on rising global vegetable oil supplies and faltering crude oil prices which have dimmed the prospects for the use of vegetable oils as alternative energy. The have fallen about 18 perc ent since the start of the year.

The benchmark November crude oil contract settled up RM93, or 3.86 per cent, at RM2,502 (US$739) per tonne on the day.

It hit a session high of RM2,523 per tonne, rebounding from a one-week low of RM2,406 marked on Tuesday.

“The market gained today only on the back of firm crude prices….

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Business Times

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Supply will get tight in the long term and prices of palm oil may rise in the fourth quarter, says an analyst

PALM oil prices have reached a “bottom” and will be supported by declining supplies and increasing demand for biodiesel, Derom Bangun, chairman of the Indonesia Palm Oil Association, said.

Prices of the cooking oil reached US$825 a ton on a cost-and-freight basis in the port of Rotterdam about 10 days ago, or about US$750 a ton in Malaysia, Bangun said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today.

Palm oil, used in cooking and as an alternative fuel, slumped 7.9 per cent this week as supplies from Indonesia and Malaysia outpaced demand. The price has plunged 18 per cent this year. Indonesia, the biggest grower, may produce more than 19 million…

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By Rupa Damodaran

UNITED Plantations Bhd has been awarded as the world’s first certified producer of sustainable palm oil by The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

The RSPO is a business-to business-initiative and not mandatory, but many Malaysian companies have proactively pursued to take up this challenge, as the certification could give them easier access to markets.

“This clearly demonstrates the industries’ commitment towards attaining the strictest standards of sustainability, unmatched by any other agricultural crop,” Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin said at the RSPO certification ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Other companies that have implemented RSPO and are awaiting registration include Sime Darby, IOI Corporation, PPB Oil Palm, Kulim (M) Bhd and KL Kepong.

“For the initial stage, the total oil palm planted area applying for certification covers 160,000ha with production of about…

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KIM LOONG RESOURCES is optimistic that the current downtrend in crude palm oil (CPO) prices will not hurtits profit for FYE Jan 31, 2009. Executive Chairman -GOOI SEONG LIM said the Company had locked in 25% of total CPO production up to Dec 2008 at RM3,400 a tonne and was not under pressure at this juncture.

He said even if CPO price were to drop to belowRM3,000 a tonne and sustain for six months, its overallaverage price would still be relatively higher thanRM3,000 this financial year against RM2,500 lastfinancial year.

With a relatively tight national palm oil stockand uncertain soybean production, coupled with poorweather in the US, the tight vegetable oil supplywould push CPO price back to its high.

Asked if KIM LOONG would further lock in its production, GOOI was quoted in the STARONLINE on Jul31, 2008 saying that ” …. we will not…

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