For week ending Jul 03, 2008

       Despite the sharp drop in May export, the cumulative January-May figure at 753,326 MT in copra terms continued to outpace last year at 581,474 MT by 29.6%. Breakdown is as follows, in MT: coconut oil 405,073 (289,242 last year), copra meal 221,204 (154,588), desiccated coconut 40,317 (54,952), oleochemicals as copra 48,020 (37,400).

       Unlike coconut oil, the market for copra meal has been pretty consistent with Korea leading the charge and trailed by Vietnam. Korea was an almost exclusive buyer this month cornering 36,227 MT or 94.0%. Vietnam took in 2,068 MT and New Zealand 255 MT for respective market share of 5.4% and 0.7%.

       Chemrez has already gained footholds in new markets such as Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and other countries in the Middle East as well as in Southeast Asian countries like Myannar, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. “These ignored markets offer better opportunities, better prices and margins, and longer lasting relationships with customers and dealers,” he said. The Middle East offers the biggest potential for their products, particularly their pioneering green products which respond to the current trend of using raw materials that are organic and friendlier to the environment. The company is also looking at Europe as a potential market for these products since it is a strong advocate for environment-friendly products.

       CPCRI Senior Research Scientist Naresh Kumar warned that although they were confident of the interpretation of the model results, still these were preliminary. He admitted that he has yet to find a comprehensive explanation for the survey results but added that the experiments showed that coconut seedlings grown in an environment where there is more carbon dioxide had enhanced physical characteristics. “We suspect it is going to be a combination of humidity, higher temperatures and coconut’s uniquely positive response to elevated carbon dioxide levels that might be responsible for the crop’s yields”, Kumar said.

       Qureshi expects palm oil import from Malaysia to increase by 33.3% this year, despite rising prices in the international market. In 2007, Malaysian palm oil exports to Pakistan were nearly 1.1 million MT, compared with 968,406 MT in 2006. Official figures for the first four months of 2008 indicate shipments of palm oil products between the two countries stood at 377,066 MT, higher than same period last year at 283,770 MT.

       Imports of edible oil have been projected to increase as consumption is expected to grow faster than production amid rising incomes among the country’s middleclass consumers. Import figure was placed at 6.5 million MT by 2010 from 4.7 million MT last year, for a 38% increase. Vegetable oil output from the combined winter and summer oilseed crops in the current year is estimated at 8.5 million MT from 7.8 million MT in prior year. Data from SEAI show import in the first six months ending April 2008 were up to 2.24 million MT from 1.71 million MT in the same period last year.

       The California Olive Oil Council (COOC), which sponsors the bill and represents 80% of all the olive oil growers in the US, says the proposal aims to modify olive oil standards to fit key criteria from the International Olive Council for extra virgin and pomace oil sold in the state because California is a large market for the product.

       Canada’s James Richardson International (JRI) is reviving previous plan last September 2006 to construct a rapeseed processing plant in Yorkton, Saskatchewan after it has completed a review of its engineering specifications and cost estimates following an unexpected and dramatic escalation of construction costs. JRI currently owns and operates Canbra Foods, Canada’s largest fully integrated rapeseed crushing, refining, processing, packing plant located in Lethbridge, Alberta. The addition of the new plant capable of processing 840,000 MT of rapeseed per year will triple JRI’s oil production.

       “The biggest issue affecting the oils and fats industry today is the issue of trans fatty acids or trans fats, whereby the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a regulation on the labeling of trans fats in foods, which took effect on January 1, 2006”, Frost and Sullivan Research Analyst W.F. Kee said. “The ruling has caused the majority of consumers to switch to food products offering low-trans and zero-trans fats. Since partially hydrogenated food products are the main source of trans fats in the human diet, thus oils and fats producers are now contemplating the alternatives to partial hydrogenation, with the two leading replacement technologies appearing to be: 1) diet, thus oils and fats producers are now contemplating the alternatives to partial blending with tropical oils such as palm oil and coconut oil; and 2) interesterification of a mixture of oils. Another means of affecting such a change is to modify the genetic sequence of the oilseeds itself so that a more desirable fatty acid profile is expressed”.

       Richmond-based Reco Biodiesel will collect the used oil stored in 350-gallon plastic containers behind the stores for processing into biodiesel. The grocery chain will use a blend of 15% of the new fuel with regular diesel. The company, which plans to expand the program to all of its 28 stores, said using the fuel is part of an ongoing effort to promote environmental sustainability.

       Present EU law sets a tolerance limit of 0.9% for GM material in food and feed, above which a cargo must be labeled as being biotech. EU’s zero tolerance policy can have catastrophic consequences for supply in the food and feed sector if just minute amounts are found in one shipment. Furthermore, the decreasing amount of non-GM grain supplied by countries such as the US, Canada and Brazil is forcing EU buyers to pay more to ensure the right checks are made. The EU takes a minimum of 2.5 years, and often longer to complete new GM approvals compared with an average of 1.25 years in the US, causing a time-lag in equivalent GM approvals.