By Sharon Ling

The Star

22 May, 2011

Tan Sri Alfred Jabu has lashed out at Australian Independent senator Nick Xenophon for introducing a bill that will impose conditions on palm oil in food products.

The deputy chief minister said Xenophon’s bill was made out of ignorance.

“I believe the senator has never been to Sarawak. He should visit the state and meet me so that I can tell him the world is not a level playing field,” Jabu said.

Xenophon’s bill called for palm oil to be listed as a specific ingredient in food labels, including labelling of certified sustainable palm oil by manufacturers to show that they were sourced from sustainable plantations.

Besides the senator, Jabu wanted developed countries and foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop criticising Malaysia on environmental issues until the country has gained developed status. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Hanim Adnan

The Star

21 May, 2011

BY 2015, Felda Global Group, the commercial entity of Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is envisaged to emerge as a dynamic agri-business and multinational organisation with strong upstream and downstream activities, a well-recognised brand, diversified activities and a leadership especially in agri-based new technologies.

Under its current five-year transformation programme, Felda Global Group (comprising Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGV) and Felda Holdings Bhd) has been tasked to undertake the strategic mission while at the same time ensuring steady growth of sustainable businesses to support Felda, its ultimate shareholder. Read the rest of this entry »

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Daily Express

21 May, 2011

Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok is leading a palm oil and rubber working visit to the United States from May 22 to 25.

The itinerary of the visit includes a joint Malaysia-Indonesia Ministerial mission to promote palm oil.

The mission covers meeting with the US Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and United States Trade Representative and Roundtable Dialogue with NGOs, industry leaders and government representatives.

The objectives of the visits are to have a dialogue with United States cabinet ministers, industry associations and Non-Governmental Organisation on the sustainability of palm oil. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Yvonne Tan

The Star

21 May, 2011

TSH Resources Bhd is banking on its sizeable unplanted land bank of 60,000ha to continue expanding its plantation business.

It has allocated about RM100mil in capital expenditure (capex) for new planting of oil palm trees on these parcels of land which are largely located in Indonesia, group managing director Datuk Tan Aik Sim said.

The capex, to be spent over the next few years, would be internally funded, he said at a briefing here yesterday.

“We are expecting our cashflow to grow stronger as our oil palm trees mature, therefore the RM100mil capex is not an issue for us,” Tan said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Bernama

20 May, 2011

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok will make a four-day working visit to the United States from Sunday to promote palm oil and rubber.

The itinerary of the visit includes a joint Malaysia-Indonesia Ministerial mission to promote palm oil, the ministry said in a statement Friday.

The objectives of the visit are to dialogue with the US cabinet ministers, industry associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the sustainability of palm oil; to inform on measures undertaken by Malaysia and Indonesia on sustainable production of palm oil and to promote the image of palm oil among consumers and regulators in the US, it said.
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Bernama

20 May, 2011

TSH Resources Bhd is poised for further growth, driven by the rapid expansion of its oil palm plantation business in Indonesia.

Group managing director, Datuk Tan Aik Sim, said the next five years would be exciting as the company’s substantial planted hectarage would mature and this would contribute to earnings.

“As at Dec 31, 2010, we have a high percentage of young and immature palms, with about 54 per cent of the planted palms aged less than four years and still unable to produce optimum yields yet,” he told a media briefing here Friday.
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Business Times

19 May, 2011

TDM Bhd, a unit of Terengganu state government, plans to spend RM120 million to build four palm oil mills in Kalimantan, Indonesia in the next eight to 10 years.

Its chairman, Datuk Roslan Awang, said in line with its expansion plan, the company would build its first mill in Kalimantan as its 8,000-hectare plantation would start to produce oil palm in 2013.

“The company has invested RM44 million in the plantation sector in Kalimantan,” he told a media briefing after the company’s annual general meeting here today.

Roslan said TDM expected to increase its hectarage to 40,000ha in the next eight years from the current 25,000ha.

“We expect to plant oil palm trees in about 20,000ha in the next three years,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Bernama

18 May, 2011

OSK Research has maintained a “sell” call on IOI Corporation and lowered the target price to RM4.39 from RM4.41 due to aging trees despite the higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) prices.

OSK Research in a research note today said the aging trees combined with the adverse weather had reduced the palm oil fresh fruit bunch production for the nine-month period by 10.4 per cent.

“IOI will continue to struggle with its production due to aging trees, which caused its production to decline for the past two consecutive years,” it said.
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