For week ending Dec. 13, 2007

       Cumulative figure for January-September at 1,151,052 MT copra terms, however, continued to lag year-ago at 1,548,767 MT by a hefty 25.7%. Breakdown is as follows, in MT: coconut oil 579,241 (818,130), copra meal 272,010 (329,680), desiccated coconut 100,286 (104,345), oleochemicals as copra 76,572 (88,823); coco shell charcoal 18,825 (20,021), activated carbon 21,164 (25,647), glycerin 11,895 (9,282), fresh coconuts 563 (1,771), Others 21,096 (20,709).

       Europe was top buyer of CNO at 38,004 MT, mainly for the Netherlands; trailed by US at 14,320 MT, China 2,000 MT, Japan 500 MT and Taiwan 100 MT. Likewise, Europe led in cochin oil purchases with 6,000 MT mainly for United Kingdom; tracked by Japan with 4,792 MT, Malaysia with 3,000 MT, and China with 193 MT. The US took bulk of RBD oil capturing 76.0% or 2,610 MT. Other destinations were Iran (395 MT), Singapore (200 MT), China (125 MT), Russia (85 MT), and Pakistan (19 MT).

       Korea remained a primary market for copra meal and for the month of September cornered 19,300 MT or 70.9% to total delivery. Vietnam similarly remained the number two buyer with 7,790 MT comprising 28.6%. Japan took in the remainder amounting to 119 MT.

       Sixteen countries took in volume in the range 102-462 MT and jointly represented nearly a third (31.7%) of the market. The group consisted of the following in descending order: Australia, Turkey, Japan, Belgium, Korea, France, Taiwan, China, Russia, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain, Egypt, Hongkong, Denmark, and South Africa. Seventeen other countries had uptake lower than 100 MT (9-99 MT) and their aggregate was 1,907 MT or 15.6% of total sales.

       Activated carbon has far more outlets which for this month numbered 24 countries. Deliveries to Japan at 1,310 MT accounted for 40.6%. Trailing behind were US at 419 MT (13.0%), France 218 MT (6.8%), Germany 179 MT (5.6%), Ghana 132 MT (4.1%), China 128 MT (4.0%), United Kingdom 112 MT (3.2%). Countries with uptake below 100 MT (1-90 MT) numbered 17 and collectively contributed 726 MT or 22.5%.

       The coco biodiesel blend at 1% is cutting smoke emission by 41% as measured on opacity, K value based on an average of two trials that experts conducted. Mileage improvement on the 1% blend as studied on a passenger bus was at 10.44% with 2.284 kilometers per liter with CME compared to 2.068 kilometers per liter without CME. This is a 9.45% reduction in fuel consumption. Government has started focusing on the enforcement of the mandated biodiesel blend on fuel since mobile source of air pollution accounts for 20% of total air pollution. Stationary sources (manufacturing plants), though still takes up the substantial 54%.

       This follows earlier deals signed by Splash, a Filipino-owned P4-billion enterprise involved in personal care products, with Rejoice Moments Sdn Bhd and Mandalay Trading Corp. for product distribution in Malaysia and the United States, respectively. Another distribution agreement with a Hongkong company is set to be signed next month, the company said, adding that the deals were in line with the firm’s expansion plans and to tap the large contingent of Filipinos living in the US, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia, and Hongkong.

       Martin Krause, UNDP’s climate change adviser said lots of safeguards have to be built to make palm oil production environmentally sustainable. The U.N. agency’s concerns follows a similar concern raised recently by another report, “Up in Smoke: Asia and the Pacific,” which was released by a coalition of British development and environmental groups. The report said the rapid growth of oil palm plantations has resulted in massive deforestation in Indonesia, which has led large amounts of carbon dioxide that were trapped in the forests to be emitted into the atmosphere. As a result of deforestation, some of which is for palm oil, Indonesia is the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after the USA and China.

       The federal government of Canada is reintroducing a legislative proposal that would set minimum biofuels content in petroleum, diesel fuel and heating oil within three to five years. The proposed legislation was part of the Clean Air Act that died on the order paper when the last parliament prorogued in September. If passed, the Renewable Fuels Bill would require 5% ethanol in petroleum by 2010 and 2% biodiesel in diesel fuel and heating oil by 2012.

       Crude palm oil output currently totals 1.1 million litres per day of which 900,000 is refined for food and cooking oil and the rest used for B100 biodiesel. The Energy Ministry hopes that with greater palm oil output, up to 10% of total usage can come from biodiesel, a target matching the 10% goal for gasohol, which is blend of ethanol and petrol. Diesel use currently stands at 55 to 60 million litres per day. Mr. Pornchai said that biodiesel, now being tested in selected markets, was proving popular among motorists due to the lower price of one baht per litre when compared with diesel. From April 1, 2008, petrol stations are required to switch from diesel to B2 fuel, a blend of 98% diesel and 2% biofuel.