JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 3.8 percent on Wednesday, recovering some of this week’s losses due to improved demand and rebounding crude oil prices, dealers said.

Malaysian palm oil futures KPOc3 have tumbled nearly 45 percent 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 percent since the start of the year.

The benchmark November crude oil contract KPOc3 settled up 93 ringgit, or 3.86 percent, at 2,502 ringgit ($739) per tonne on the day.

It hit a session high of 2,523 ringgit per tonne, rebounding from a one-week low of 2,406 ringgit marked on Tuesday.

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

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The Star

Thursday August 28, 2008

By DANNY YAP

Award of first RSPO cert to United Plantations changes whole ball game for the industry

KUALA LUMPUR: United Plantations Bhd being awarded the world’s first Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate on Tuesday has a significance beyond a company-specific milestone.

It sets the benchmark for other players in the industry to follow suit.

More importantly, it changes the whole ball game for industry players as those with RSPO certification would be deemed the “preferred” palm oil companies by the big international buyers, who are likely to insist on dealing with producers that practise sustainability.

Other large palm oil players in Malaysia and countries like Indonesia have taken note of the bar being raised in the industry, and a number of them are in various stages of preparation for RSPO…

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The Star

Thursday August 28, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Felda’s plan to transform itself into a global player will be announced soon, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“The plan will be the main deciding factor to ensure the progress and success of Felda as a global player,” the Deputy Prime Minister said at the launch of D’Saji’s Ramadan buffet promotion and introduction of Felda scholarship scheme for top students to pursue their education overseas.

Felda chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Yusof Noor said the organisation was making efforts to increase its income from other sources other than palm oil.

“Maybe we will have other activities. It will be made known later. As the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned, a Felda strategic development plan will be announced soon.”

He said that at present Felda depended a lot on upstream activities or oil palm plantations.

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Business

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) — Palm oil producer, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd, Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India’s premier international trading house, The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd (STC), to set up a joint venture in the edible oil business in India.

Managing Director Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said Sime Darby Plantation and STC were exploring the viability of setting up an edible oil refining facility and marketing of end products in India.

Speaking to reporters after the MoU signing, he said, the MoU was the result of effective networking established during the two-day Malaysia-India Palm Oil Trade Fair & Seminar held in Mumbai on May 29.

He said the MoU would enable Sime Darby to conduct feasibility studies in India which are expected to be completed in two months.

“Currently, we are selling a small amount…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 Asia Pulse - Malaysian palm oil exporters are not facing a severe default on contracts despite the slow demand for the commodity over the past few months, the Malaysia’s Palm Oil Refiners Association said Monday.

Its acting chairman, Yong Chin Fatt, said it was true that some players faced defaults but the situation was not as massive as reported recently.

It was reported that buyers from China and India had cancelled or renegotiated around 800,000 to one million tonnes of palm oil deals over the past few weeks with declining prices.

“In places like India or China, most of them are quite established players. So, the default should not be that massive,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Second International Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar 2008 here Monday.

He pointed out…

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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian palm oil producers should provide comprehensive traceability report of their production to comply with the European Union’s new directive on renewable energy to better penetrate the market there.

The new directive would likely include sustainability and Green House Gas criteria that would influence market direction for biodiesel.

Ilmari Lastikka, Stakeholder Relations Manager in renewable fuels division with Neste Oil Corporation, said in Europe, companies cannot use palm oil as biodiesel unless they showed traceability of palm oil that had been used.

He said the biodiesel industry in developed countries want to know the origins of the biofuel or biofuel feedstock and detailed characteristics of its sustainability.

Neste Oil, which currently produces renewable diesel using palm oil as its feedstock, has been using segregation process as one way to show the traceability process of its feedstock.

“In future, we…

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SANDAKAN, Aug 27 (Bernama) — Oil palm planters and producers in Sabah have been asked to implement the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification to ensure continued export market access for their products to the European market.

State Minister for Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun said they should not regard RSPO as burdensome as it served as a reminder for their business advancement.

“Whether they like it or not, RSPO must be implemented as eventually they have to conform to the standards stipulated by consumer countries.

“The European Union (EU) has set stringent conditions that need to be complied with if they wish to continue exporting palm oil products to EU member states,” he told reporters after opening a seminar on clean oil palm production mechanism.

Among elements considered under RSPO certification is product manufacture labelling to enable importers to check whether…

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Rajesh Ravi

Coconut oil market is likely to feel the heat of decreasing palm oil prices and the government proposal to subsidise its distribution through the PDS system. Traders speaking to FE said that there are reports that palm kernel oil is also entering India in large volumes. Palm kernel oil is a very close substitute to coconut oil and substitution takes place at very thin difference, Talat Mehamod, a trader at the terminal market of Kochi told FE.

Interestingly, for the past few months coconut oil market has been very firm due to the non-availability of copra and is quoted at Rs 65 at the wholesale market in Kochi. Coconut oil price started moving up this year, after languishing in the range of Rs 4,700-5,000 per 100 kg for more than two years when prices of other…

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Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia have opposed any moratorium on forest and peat land conversions, saying it will play havoc with the industry and the national economy.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) said halting forest conversion would only slow the country’s economy, causing more job losses and further poverty, beleaguering the country.

“Indonesia does not need to apply a moratorium on its forest. GAPKI strongly rejects the forest conversion moratorium idea,” GAPKI executive Derom Bangun said on the sidelines of a Greenpeace-organized dialogue on palm oil companies in Indonesia on Tuesday.

Some 250 palm oil producers are GAPKI members.

“If we stop expanding our business, many rich nations will be happy because then they don’t need to take action to tackle global warming. We don’t…

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By Catherine Yang and Feiwen Rong

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — 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 $825 a ton on a cost-and- freight basis in the port of Rotterdam about 10 days ago, or about $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 percent this week as supplies from Indonesia and Malaysia outpaced demand. The price has plunged 18 percent this year. Indonesia, the biggest grower, may produce more than 19 million tons this year and Malaysia more than 17.4 million tons, Dorab Mistry, director at Godrej…

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