By M.R. Subramani

The Hindu Business Line

22 May, 2011

Two and a half years ago, Mr Kumarasamy Reddiar of Vikaravandi village in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district decided to cultivate oil palm. He chose to replace paddy, casuarina and sugarcane and today, he gets 20 tonnes of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) of oil palm a year on the nine hectares.

“If this is what he gets within four years, then in the coming years he can get a higher yield compared with productivity in Malaysia,” says Mr R.R. Govindan, Vice-President, Godrej Agrovet Ltd, that helps him in cultivating the crop.

Godrej Agrovet buys the FFB from farmers such as Mr Kumarasamy and crushes them at Cauvery oil mill in Ariyalur, about 100 km away. Godrej has a majority stake in the mill owned by Cauvery Oil Palm that has been floated by Dr V. Krishnamurthy. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Pratik Parija and Prabhudatta Mishra

Bloomberg

20 May, 2011

India, the world’s biggest user of cooking oil after China, will ensure higher oilseed prices for farmers, helping them boost output of soybeans and peanuts and potentially reducing imports of palm oil.

The government may offer a higher profit on monsoon-sown oilseeds than on food grains, said Ashok Gulati, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, in an interview. The commission is part of the Agriculture Ministry.

India is the largest buyer of palm oil, which represents more than 80 percent of its edible-oil imports. A decline in imports may pressure futures in Malaysia that jumped 38 percent in the past year on higher demand in everything from noodles to fish sticks to candy bars. Read the rest of this entry »

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By P. Vijian

Bernama,

28 February, 2011

India announced Monday it will pump in over RM200 million this year to plant more oil palm to cut palm oil imports, largely from Malaysia and Indonesia.

India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in tabling 2011-2012 Federal Budget, said the funds would be used to bring 60,000 hectares under oil palm plantation and to integrate farmers with the market.

“To achieve a major breakthrough, we have to pay special attention to oil palm as it is one of the most efficient oil crops.

“The domestic edible oil production meets only about 50 per cent (local) demand. The gap in supply is met through imports which are often at high prices due to the quantum of our requirements,” he told parliament.

He also said recent interventions and good rain are expected to result in a higher oilseeds production of 278,000 tonnes in 2010-11 as against 249,000 tonnes in 2009-10.

India, Asia’s third largest economy growing at about eight per cent per annum, consumes about seven million tonnes of palm oil annually.

It imports slightly over one million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer.

India’s trillion-dollar economy is expected to grow at nine per cent in 2011-12.

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By Pratik Parija

Bloomberg

19 October, 2010

Cooking oil imports by India, the biggest consumer after China, may tumble this month, potentially driving prices lower, after a jump in palm oil futures to a 26- month high made purchases unprofitable for traders.

Imports may drop 36 percent to 600,000 metric tons in October, compared with 942,257 tons in September, Govindlal G. Patel, managing partner at GG Patel & Nikhil Research Co., said in an interview. India is the world’s biggest buyer of palm oil, which accounts for about 80 percent of its edible-oil purchases.

“People are not buying, as global prices are high and there is disparity,” Patel, 71, who has been trading oilseeds and vegetable oils for more than four decades, said by phone yesterday. “Global prices are higher than local prices.”

Declining imports by India may boost stockpiles in Malaysia amid an expected increase in output, potentially snapping a rally in prices. Palm oil futures traded on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange reached a 26-month high last week after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the nation’s soybean output may be lower than earlier forecast. Palm and soybean oils are direct substitutes for use in food and biofuels. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Thomas Kutty Abraham

Bloomberg

15 October, 2010

Vegetable oil imports by India, the biggest consumer after China, climbed 6 percent in September after traders boosted purchases to meet demand before the Diwali festival next month.

Purchases reached 960,752 metric tons, from 905,192 tons a year ago, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said by e-mail. Imports in the 11 months ended Sept. 30 rose 5 percent to 8.41 million tons, the group said.

Increased imports by India, the biggest palm-oil buyer, may help support prices in Kuala Lumpur that have rebounded to the highest level in 26 months from near an eight-month low in July. The Asian nation overtook China last year as the biggest consumer of the tropical commodity. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Manik Mehta

NEW DELHI, Aug 13 (Bernama) — While Malaysia’s ties with China have progressed well in terms of trade and business, there is still a large and untapped potential for business and trade with the other Asian giant, India.

New Delhi-based Malaysian High Commissioner to India Datuk Tan Seng Sung says he is working towards forging closer ties with India and achieving an “ambitious” trade volume target of US$50 billion.

Tan says there are no political issues with India.

Malaysia maintains a “warm and friendly relationship” that has historic reasons including the colonial past of both countries under British occupation. Read the rest of this entry »

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5 August, 2010

Business Times

Palm oil must rise by as much as 24 per cent to cool export demand as output declines in Malaysia, the second-biggest grower, and dry weather damages canola crops in Europe and Canada, according to Dorab Mistry, a director at Godrej International Ltd.

“The market needs to move ahead rapidly so that there is time for rationing to set in,” Mistry, who’s traded vegetable oils for more than three decades, said in an e-mailed reply to Bloomberg. “At RM2,600, you cannot match demand with supply. And on top of that, the supply is shrinking.”

Palm oil has rallied 13 per cent from a seven-month low on July 7 on optimism consumption will increase in Asian nations, which mark festivals in the September quarter, and on concern that weather may disrupt output in Indonesia and Malaysia, the biggest producers.

October-delivery futures dropped as much as 0.7 per cent to RM2,571 (US$811) a ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange and were at RM2,578 at 11:24 am Kuala Lumpur local time. The price gained 1.1 per cent to RM2,590 yesterday, the highest close since April 9.

Palm oil may gain in the second half as dry weather caused by El Nino pares output in Malaysia and Indonesia and the price may rise as high as RM3,200 a ton after June, Mistry told a conference in Kuala Lumpur in March.

Godrej is one of India’s biggest vegetable oil importers.

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Business Standard

July 14, 2010

Palmolein and crude palm oil prices rose by Rs 20 per quintal in the wholesale oils and oilseeds market today on fresh buying by vanaspati millers amid firming global trend.

Elsewhere, other edible and non-edible oils continued to trade in a tight range in the absence of worthwhile activity.

Trading sentiment turned better after palm oil advanced for the fifth day in Malaysia after shipments gained more than estimated in June, led by China, and India indicated imports may rise in the coming months to meet the festival demand.

Meanwhile, palm oil futures for delivery in September increased by 0.9 per cent to $743 a metric tonne on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange.

In the edible section, palmolein (rbd) and crude palm oil (ex-kandla) oils rose by Rs 20 each to Rs 4,270 and Rs 3,720 per quintal.

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