For week ending May 03, 2007

       This month’s Cocohouse event takes place noontime on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 at the Redwood and Sycamore function rooms of the Richmonde Hotel, San Miguel Avenue corner Lourdes St., Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap will be the guest speaker. Members are requested to confirm attendance beforehand for headcount purposes.

       Mr. Santos was designated chairman of PCOPA International Affairs Committee; Mr. Barlisan, Technical Committee; Mr. Ellescas, Rules Committee; while Mr. Wee remains PCOPA advisor to NIOP (National Institute of Oilseed Products).

       For instance, Petron Corporation declared the company is prepared to implement the landmark legislation by May 6. Khalid Al Faddagh, Petron president said the company had placed all the necessary “logistics” for the implementation of the one percent coco methyl ester blend for diesel, adding that a nationwide compliance might take a longer time. There may be gradual phase out until all the logistics systems are in place. The company earlier approved a budget of P57 million as part of preparations to comply with the Biofuels Law.

       It can be used as sweetener for coffee, tea, or any beverage; as a balancing agent; a flavor enhancer for cakes, pastries and even curries and robust sauces. Many patisseries will find Coco Natura’s rich caramel taste and distinctive aroma, perfect for their concoctions. It is the best alternative for sugarcane-based sweeteners. It is made up of 100 percent coconut sap sugar, so it is all natural, BFAD approved. Coco Natura organic coconut sweetener is manufactured by Spythe Global Enterprises and exclusively distributed and marketed by Coco Natura Marketing. To order and for additional information contact: coco_natura@yahoo.com.ph; natura.coco@gmail.com.

       The standardization project was started through the initiative of Tayabas, Quezon local government unit and the DTI-Region 4 as represented by DTI Quezon provincial office in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture which created an interagency TWG composed of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Product Standards, Bureau of Food and Drugs, Philippine Coconut Authority, Industrial Technology Development Institute, Bureau of Products Standard, DTI-Quezon, LGU-Tayabas and representatives from Quezon coconut “lambanog” industry.

       Data from the National Statistics Office show the Philippines imported a total of 185,783 MT of various oilseeds during the year. The volume dropped significantly by 22.1% from 238,623 MT in a similar period year-ago. Soybean, the top import during the year stood at 108,003 MT, cutting by 26.8% prior year uptake at 147,503 MT. In contrast, second biggest import, groundnuts, increased appreciably by 35.9% at 50,906 MT from 37,468 MT. Copra took the third spot at 21,148 MT, a slump by 55.3% from 47,351 MT.

       Export during the month went to some 38 various countries of the world led by UAR/Egypt which cornered 738 MT or 19.4% of aggregate. Other big buyers were UAE/Dubai at 309 MT, Turkey at 308 MT, Netherlands at 306 MT, Saudi Arabia at 215 MT, Germany at 202 MT, Spain at 175 MT, France at 168 MT, Portugal at 154, Pakistan 148 MT, Syria at 146 MT, Greece 110 MT and South Africa at 100 MT whose combined market share was 61.6%. The remaining 25 other countries accounted for 723 or 19% and had uptake ranging from a low of 5 MT to a high of 84 MT.

       The Ecodiesel Colombia biodiesel plant initially will have a capacity of 2,000b/d and will cost US$23 million, to be built in Barrancabermeja department. The plant’s biodiesel output and the diesel produced at Ecopetrol’s Barrancabermeja refinery will help reduce sulfur content close to 2% and particulate emissions roughly 5%, the company statement said.

       Danisco has introduced a new emulsifier on the European market to help in efforts towards hydrogenation-free oils and fats products. The product, known as Dimodan NH Distilled Monoglyceride, is aimed at food products such as margarine, low fat spreads and industrial margarines. The company claimed the emulsifier provides “good spreadability, texture and stability and in case of industrial margarine, cakes with right volume and crumb structure”. Since hydrogenation has not been used, the emulsifier does not contain the harmful trans fats.