Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Administrator Oscar G. Garin announced this week the holding of the 7th National Coconut Festival on August 7-10, 2008 at the SM Mega Trade Hall 2, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. He called on all coconut industry stakeholders to participate in the exhibits, trade fairs, and various special events that have been lined up for the occasion, adding that the festival offers an excellent venue for coconut processors in showcasing their products and innovative breakthroughs as well as in establishing market linkages both locally and globally.

       Data from Oil World show China imported 46,400 MT of lauric oils in May this year. This is 11.2% more than May last year total at 41,700 MT. Coconut oil comprised the bulk of import amounting to 23,500 MT (50.6% share) while palm kernel oil was at 22,900 MT (49.4%). Purchases of coconut oil during the month increased by 70.3% from last year at 13,800 MT while that of palm kernel oil declined by 17.9% from 27,900 MT.

       Indonesia was the country’s major source of lauric oil responsible for 57.0% at 26,400 MT. This consisted of 17,700 MT of palm kernel oil (17,300 MT last year) and 8,700 MT of coconut oil (13,600 MT). The Philippines supplied 14,600 MT (200 MT) of coconut oil only and accounted for 31.2%. Delivery from the Malaysia at 5,100 MT (10,500 MT) of palm kernel oil contributed 11%. Import from other countries totaled 200 MT of coconut oil (nil) only. Last year, palm kernel oil import from other countries amounted to 100 MT.

       A Montreal newspaper The Gazette reports that the ban on yellow-colored margarine in the French Canadian province of Quebec will be lifted shortly. The provincial cabinet decision will now allow the vegetable oil industry to color its margarine as all other places in Canada do.

       Chemical engineers at Rice University have unveiled a set of techniques for converting glycerin, a by-product of biodiesel production, into high value chemicals such as formate, succinate and other valuable organic acids. Rapid increase in biodiesel capacity has made glycerin disposal problematic for biodiesel producers; hence the development promises to change the economics of biodiesel refining. The research was supported by the US Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation, Rice University and Glycos Biotechnologies, a Houston-based startup company which plans to open its first demonstration facility within the next 12 months.

       Lead researcher Ramon Gonzalez, Rice’s William W. Akers Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering found a new method of glycerol fermentation that used E. coli to produce ethanol, another biofuel. Gonzalez said new fermentation technologies that produce high-value chemicals like succinate and formate hold even more promise for biodiesel refiners because those chemicals are more profitable than ethanol. With fundamental research, Gozalez et. al. have identified the pathways and mechanisms that mediate glycerol fermentation in E. coli, enabling the development of new technologies for converting glycerol into high-value chemicals.

       The Indonesian government will impose a new regulation this year requiring both industrial and transport sectors to use at least 2.5 percent biodiesel in their fuel consumption to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. Al Hilal Hamdi, head of the National Team for Biofuel Development said the decree is expected to be issued in September and will come into effect a month after, in October.

       Fat free peanut flour, whole peanuts, and peanut oil all may have cardio protective properties, according to results from a new study. The study was conducted by Tim Sanders, head of USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) Market Quality and Handling Research Unit, in Raleigh, N.C., and Amanda Stephens, food science and nutrition graduate student at North Carolina State University. ARS scientists are presenting the findings at the Institute of Food Technologists 2008 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

       The Swiss Federal Council has extended the country’s moratorium on genetically modified (GM) plants for another three years from the current expiry date of November 2010 to allow time for a National Research Program into the benefits and risks of GM crops to be completed and the results assessed. The moratorium on the commercial cultivation of GM crops was earlier imposed in 2005 on the basis that there was no demand for them in Switzerland at the time and that big gaps remained in scientific knowledge about the risks of this technology. The research program thus was launched shortly thereafter and is expected to be concluded around the middle of 2012.