For week ending September 10, 2009

       The tournament is sponsored by the following: Gold Sponsors: Cargill Philippines, Chemrez Technologies, Minola (CIIF Oil Mills Group), Pilipinas Kao, and United Coconut Planters Bank; Silver Sponsors: EU Sons Trading, Pure Essence International, and Toepfer International-Asia Pte. Ltd.

       Total export for the first semester of this year plummeted 42.0% to 539,887 MT in copra terms from 930,130 MT at the same time last year. Breakdown is as follows, in MT: coconut oil 275,159 (499,126), copra meal 151,657 (269,161), desiccated coconut 59,122 (60,077), oleochemicals in copra terms 11,720 (44,984); coco shell charcoal 16,813 (8,748), activated carbon 10,085 (11,911), glycerin 9,920 (9,387), fresh coconuts 710 (594), Others 14,498 (14,272).

       US was the top market for crude coconut oil during the month with 24,956 MT, tailed by Europe at 21,300 MT, mainly for Netherlands 15,300 MT and Italy 6,000 MT. Other destinations were: Taiwan 336 MT, China 267 MT, Singapore 72 MT, Korea 38 MT, Chile and Russia at 21 MT apiece, and Nepal 17 MT. The US was top market for cochin oil at 25,150 MT, followed by Japan 4,350 MT, Korea 2,500 MT, Iran 223 MT and Russia 43 MT. Japan took the lead in RBD coconut oil at 1,050 MT, trailed by Iran 818 MT and China 709 MT. Other buyers took in much lesser volume namely Russia 128 MT, Pakistan 25 MT, US 24 MT, Egypt 22 MT, Vietnam 21 MT, Singapore 19 MT, Israel 18 MT, Netherlands 2 MT.

       Korea and Vietnam remained the primary destinations of Philippine copra meal. In June delivery to Korea at 30,000 MT represented 58.7% of total sales while Vietnam?s 15,425 MT shared 30.2%. Japan also took in significant load at 4,200 MT (8.2%). Other markets were Taiwan 880 MT, China 500 MT, and Hongkong 115 MT, which together comprised 2.9% of the market.

       Shipment of desiccated coconut in June at 8,965 MT went to 39 countries across the globe. US remained a market leader with purchases of 2,280 MT or 25.4% of total trade. The next four major buyers namely United Kingdom 885 MT, Canada 855 MT, Netherlands 766 MT and Germany 675 MT jointly contributed 35.4%. Ten other big buyers (113-480 MT) namely in descending order, Australia, France, Belgium, Bahrain, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Dominican Republic, Hongkong, China had combined market share of 28.8%. Two dozen countries took in much smaller load in the range 4-88 MT for an aggregate 10.4% contribution.

       Outbound activated carbon in the same month at 1,209 MT was distributed to 16 countries. The top five destinations were: US 237 MT (19.6%), Singapore 182 MT (15.1%), Ghana 132 MT (10.9%), Russia 122 MT (10.1%), and South Africa 113 MT (9.3%). The remaining eleven countries with uptake ranging 1-85 MT were jointly responsible for 35% of total export.

       Export in June went to 36 country destinations across the world led by UAR/Egypt which took in 616 MT or 19.7% of total sales, trailed by UAE/Dubai at 501 MT or 16.0%. Other buyers of substantial quantities were Saudi Arabia at 270 MT, Jordan 229 MT, Spain 186 MT, USA 176 MT, Germany 147 MT, and France at 116 MT, which jointly accounted for 35.9%. The remaining 891 MT or 28.4% were shared by 28 countries, whose uptake ranged from a low of 1 MT to a high of 78 MT.

       The researchers studied monolaurin?s interaction with food components and observed that its antibacterial effectiveness was reduced by fat or starch but was not affected by protein. ?These results contribute to a better understanding on the use of monolaurin as a nontraditional preservative for antimicrobial purpose in food products. The antimicrobial effects of monolaurin can be increased if used together or in combination with other preservative systems,? said Zhang. The study has been published in the Journal of Food Science.

       In their new study, Latife Ahmadi and Alejandro Marangoni from the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph chemically interesterified high oleic sunflower oil, fully hydrogenated canola oil, and fully hydrogenated soybean oil in a weight ratio of 70:17:13. The resulting shortening was then used in the preparation of chewy brownie cookies. Their findings show, the shortening had comparable plasticity, solid fat content, and melting points as a commercial shortening. Furthermore, results of sensory analysis showed that tasters accepted both conventionally produced cookies, and cookies made with the trans fat free shortening equally. The study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

       Germany increased taxes on biodiesel this year under the government?s continuing program to raise taxes on green fuels to the same level as fossil fuels, eroding any benefit from rises in the price of crude oil. The B100 (petrol station) market hardly exists for biodiesel, Schrum said. To reduce the impact of biodiesel taxes, Germany introduced compulsory blending of biodiesel with fossil diesel at oil refineries. However, the original target of 6.25% was cut to 5.25%, while large German biodiesel makers with long-term contracts or imports are filling most of this.

       Dr. Buillon mentioned key contributory factors to the slowdown such as volatile feedstock costs; crude oil prices plunging from almost $150 a barrel before the recession to around $70 a barrel currently; higher biodiesel production costs and falling margins especially due to tighter US soy supplies; and continuing debates over sustainability and indirect land use policy in Europe, which are particularly affecting the image of Asian palm-based biodiesel.

       Le Thanh Binh, deputy head of the ministry?s Biodiversity Preservation Department, said that under the decree, individuals and organizations wanting to research and develop GM technology need to meet all standards set by the Ministry of Science and Technology. GM organisms being considered for use in food or other products would have to undergo a number of tests to assess potential risks to the environment, biodiversity or people?s health. Such tests will be regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health. The draft decree also requires products which contain more than 5% GM organisms to be labeled that they ?used genetically modified technology?. Providing information about GM products for consumers is also to be included in the mandate.