For week ending April 15, 2010

       Directors: Jesus L. Arranza, CIIF Oil Mills Group; Raymond Co, Samar Coco Products; Napoleon Ibarrola, Bicol Oil Mills & Refinery; Sergio Licup, SC Global Coco Products; Arnold Lim Jr., Third Millennium Commodity Trading; Vladimir Manuel, CIIF Oil Mills; Victor Co Say, Co Say & Company; Aibe Tan, Globe Coco Products; Reynald C. Uy, Dumaguete Coconut Mills; Victor Lu Ym, Lu Do & Lu Ym Corp.

       Mr. Michael C. Bayangos of the Association of Coconut Brokers Inc. informed the UCAP Secretariat of the election of the following officers of the Association for the term 2010/2011 during its recently held annual meeting and elections: President ? Danilo Valdez, Raco Commodities Phils., Inc.; Vice-President ? Enrique J. Uy, EU Sons Trading Corp.; Treasusrer ? Michael C. Bayangos, Eisellgen House of Trade; Secretary ? Manuel J. Igual, Manuel Igual, Inc.; Director ? Carmen Duran, Lee Commodities.

       The Cocohouse luncheon this month is taking place on Monday, April 26, 2010 at the Brussels Function Room of the New Horizon Hotel, at the corner of Boni Avenue and EDSA. For this event, we have invited representatives from the Philippine Coconut Authority to discuss details regarding the implementation of the new PCA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2010. The Order revises the system for collecting the PCA fees. Another guest from Caritas Manila has been invited to make a presentation on their Segunda Mana Program.

       John Tucker, Turtle Mountain Vice President of Marketing and Technology, said, ?People are impressed by the refreshing taste, smooth texture, and palate-cleansing properties that make the product unique from other sorbets on the market. Something about the tropical nature of coconut water, when mixed with fragrant fruit and floral notes, produces a satisfying eating experience.? Packaged in recyclable cardboard pints with safety seals, the product is available in Hibiscus, Lemonade, Mango and Raspberry flavors. Suggested retail price for the So Delicious? Coconut Water Sorbet is $5.49 per pint and can be found at Whole Foods Markets and other natural food retailers in the US. Turtle Mountain has been producing coconut-based items. Last year, the company launched numerous product lines made with coconut milk, including ice cream, yogurt, and beverages. The company sells its products under the brands So Delicious? and Purely Decadent?.

       Industries currently make cooking oils using hexane, a cheap, flammable solvent that is a neurotoxin and creates smog. The process involves distillation, which uses large amounts of energy. While the Jessop process has only been done in labs, the Professor says he has already heard from cooking oil companies and GreenCentre Canada who are interested in his research. The solvent though is still years away before it can be used in large-scale oil manufacturing. Professor Jessop is trying to get rid of the use of volatile chemicals such as hexane by giving industries an option to use a manufacturing process that is both economically and environmentally friendly.

       Wang Yun-ming, deputy chief at Taiwan?s Bureau of Energy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said the content of biodiesel in the diesel fuel mix will be increased to 2% from the current 1% starting July this year. He assured consumers that retail prices at the pump would not be affected by the doubling of biodiesel component. The country, which introduced the 1% blend in July 2008, is trying to cut its 99% reliance on overseas for its energy needs.

       Indonesian energy giant PT Pertamina has signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase biodiesel from three plants to be built by state plantation firms PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III, IV and V at a cost of Rp 1.5trn ($165 million). Dahlan Harahap, president of PTPN 1V, said construction would begin in the second half this year and to start production in 2012. The biodiesel plants are projected to have initial capacity of 300,000 tons per year, reaching peak capacity of 1 million after five years. The plantation firms will pay 30% of the costs from internal funds and secure loans for the remainder. Pertamina will invest an undisclosed amount in the production facilities.

       The slight increase in export volume can be mainly credited to recovery in demand among mid-sized customers, notably the US, UK, Australia and Japan as the top three markets, Italy, Portugal and France reduced purchases; the top three markets represent two-thirds of Spain?s export market. Of particular interest was Morocco, which despite being a producer, increased import from Spain by 150% from 2,574 MT a year ago to 6,508 MT, and vastly more by 572% from merely 969 MT two years ago.

       Two companies have submitted bids for a mid-sized Malaysian planter Kulim?s oleochemical plant which is estimated to worth around M$300 million ($93.3 million) and with annual capacity of 430,000 MT. Malaysia?s Sime Darby said its 50%-owned unit, Emery Oleochemicals, has submitted a bid for Kulim?s oleochemical plant. The other bidder was Indonesia?s Sinar Mas Group, according to industry sources. Sinar Mas controls Jakarta-listed PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, known as SMART Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources.

       Meanwhile Chinese soya oil importers reportedly have stopped applying for new import permits with the ban on soya oil import from Argentina. Observers note that while the Argentine-Chinese trade row will be favorable for US soya oil, the biggest winner would be Brazil, where soya oil solvent levels are often below the 100 ppm limit required by China. As a consequence, there have been talks that Chinese buyers have already started negotiating with Brazilian exporters.

       Molly Bray, lead author of the study and professor of epidemiology at UAB said: ?Humans eat a mixed diet, and our study, which we have repeated four times in animals, seems to show that if you really want to be able to efficiently respond to mixed meals across a day then a meal in higher fat content in the morning is a good thing. Another important component of our study is that, at the end of the day, the mice ate a low-caloric density meal, and we think that combination is key to the health benefits we?ve seen.? Bray added that high-fat meals upon waking seemed to ?turn on? fat metabolism and improve the body?s ability to metabolize different types of food later in the day.