Sunday, October 16, 2016

AAR Oil Plan: Good planting distance

Trace lines across the slope and put in your pegs in straight lines; leave 7.8 meters between rows and 9 metres between pegs. In this way you can plant 143 oil palms per hectare; this is the best density.







Friday, October 7, 2016

AAR 3.5 year after field planting

AAR seedling 3.5 year after field planting.



12 fruits each palm tree



SIRIM & MPOB Licensed Seeds

AA DxP seeds and seedlings are licensed by SIRIM and MPOB.

Superior Pedigree Seeds

AA DxP seeds are produced from selected dura and pisifera parents derived from superior pedigrees, which are featured in the best DxP seeds produced locally and internationally.

Ulu Remis Deli duras are known for their uniform high yield and good oil extraction characteristics. La Me and Dabou Deli duras have been selected for high bunch weight, good oil extraction and short stature. In the production of AA DxP seeds, attempts are made to combine the best attributes of these pedigrees to give rise to palms with high oil yield and a small palm stature, important attributes in our increasingly scarce and costly labour market.
AA DxP pisifera parents inherit the high bunch yield characteristic of S27B, AVROS and Yangambi, the high oil extraction of AVROS and Yangambi and the short stature of the Dumpy and the Yangambi parents.

The next generation of AA pisiferas (Dy.Ybi.AVROS) will combine the best features of Dy.AVROS and Ybi.AVROS pisiferas.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

replenishPalm oil prices may rise to RM3,000 per tonne next year

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) prices may rise to RM3,000 per tonne next year on the back of an increase in demand, especially from India, says Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Nasrun Mansur.

He said India needed palm oil from Malaysia to support its biodiesel industry.

“The Indian government has introduced biodiesel blends in its market and is currently negotiating to import our palm oil,” he told reporters at the Palm Oil Familiarisation Programme (POFP) 2016 here yesterday.

The CPO price hit RM2,798 per tonne on Wednesday last week, the highest recorded so far this year.

Nasrun said the government is working tirelessly to utilise existing palm oil stock in the country to ensure price stability.

“If our (palm oil) products are dependent on overseas demand, prices will not be stable, as there may be a time when imports will fall short of demand,” he added.

Nasrun said India was Malaysia’s biggest importer of palm oil, exceeding China last year.

Malaysia’s total palm oil production in 2015 amounted to an all-time high of 19.96 million tonnes.

Exports totalled 17.441 million tonnes worth RM41.23 billion.

In 2015, palm oil and palm oil products contributed RM62.22 billion to the country’s export earnings and employed more than 600,000 people in all sectors of the industry.

“To further strengthen (position), the Malaysian Palm Oil Board will be opening two regional offices, namely in Mumbai (India) and Tehran (Iran), to facilitate technical support and advisory services,” said Nasrun.

Meanwhile, a Reuters article said crude palm oil prices are seen averaging at RM2,678 per tonne in 2016, up nearly 18 per cent from last year, boosted by demand from top consumer India and replenishment of stocks by China, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

Benchmark palm oil prices on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange have surged 11.3 per cent so far this month on the back of tight supplies and improving export data.

Palm futures closed 0.1 percent higher on Friday at RM2,578.

“In 2016 palm oil prices will average at RM2,678 per tonne, stabilising in a range between a low of RM2,162 and a high of RM3,195,” said Yusof Basiron, the chief executive of MPOC, in remarks posted online for a palm oil seminar.

The forecast price, up from palm’s year-to-date average of RM2,528, is on the back of strong demand from the world’s two largest consumers, according to Yusof.

India will maintain its position as the world’s largest consumer and importer of palm oil, he said, while China is expected to import more oils and fats for the rest of the year.

“The utilisation of the high carryover stocks in China caused them to import less oils and fats especially in the first half of 2016, but imports will be increased to replenish stocks in the second half of 2016,” said Yusof.

Palm oil shipments from Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer after Indonesia, rose 26.5 per cent in the first 20 days of August from the same period in July on improving exports to India.

Yusof also pegged Malaysia’s output at 19.1 million tonnes this year and Indonesian production at 32.8 million tonnes.

“(Malaysian) production from August onwards is expected to be higher as the dryness associated with effects of El Nino in early 2016 no longer hampers the production of palm oil,” he said.

Rapidly rising palm oil prices, however, could narrow its spread with rival soyoil, reducing its competitiveness.

The share of palm oil in India’s edible oil imports is already seen falling to a record low in this marketing year, as its price rally slashes its discount versus soyoil.

Palm’s discount to soy is around US$110, compared with a spread of US$140 a year ago. — Bernama


Saturday, July 30, 2016

AA Hybrida Oil Palm at 3 After Field Planting

Oil Palm AA Hybrida fact and figure
This palm growing well at undulating land.

More palm can be planted in one hectare with shorter planting distance.
Small size compare to Sawit Kinabalu but the FFB more and easier to handle.

Friday, July 15, 2016

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Call to end palm oil price war

THE palm oil price war between Indonesia and Malaysia – the world’s two largest producers – needs to be resolved fast as it is a no-win situation for both countries if prolonged.

Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron said a price war has been shown to be detrimental to Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil export revenue. “The two countries should rationalise a more effective tax system and harmonise tax rates to avoid a price war, ” he said.

Despite Malaysia leading the way in establishing new markets to generate more uptake of palm oil, the country’s hard-earned markets were lost to Indonesia due to price undercutting, afforded by the latter’s market distorting tax structure, said Dr Yusof in his paperMalaysian Palm Oil: Creating New Drivers For Greater Global Market Penetration at the MPOC-organised Reach & Remind Friends Of The Industry Seminar 2016 and Dialogue in Kuching on Tuesday.

“Price undercutting for the palm oil market by Indonesian exporters is driven by the differentiated duty structure for crude palm oil (CPO) and processed palm oil (PPO), and the way palm oil producers are only paid discounted prices for their fresh fruit bunches to account for the export tax.

“When PPO is charged an export tax of 3% + US$20/tonne and CPO is taxed at 9% + US$50/tonne, the PPO exporter has a margin of 6% + US$30/tonne.

“And for packed products and biodiesel which are not taxed in % terms, the Indonesian palm oil exporter has an even bigger margin to undercut prices in the international markets, including cross-subsidising CPO from gains in certain products when competing against Malaysian exporters,” he said.

Dr Yusof said that under Indonesia’s new export tax structure, duty differential between refined palm oil and CPO has widened, thus encouraging greater production of refined palm oil – resulting in increased competition with Malaysia in refined products.

Under the old structure, the export tax on CPO was 12.5% and this was lowered to 9% under the new structure introduced in September 2014. The export tax for RBD palm olein was reduced to 3% from 12.5% while under the new structure, there was zero tax on RBD palm oil, RBD palm stearin and biofuel against 11%, 7.5% and 2% respectively previously.

Last July, Indonesia imposed another new palm oil products export levy, with the levy collected regardless of the CPO price. The levy for CPO is US$50/tonne exported.

Dr Yusof said the Indonesian logic was that in the short term, the levy would make Indonesian palm oil industry less competitive as producers had to bear the additional costs of the levy. In addition, local CPO price could decline and trade at as much as US$50/tonne below international CPO price. The long-term impact is that the levy is expected to boost international price of CPO as an additional 5.5 million tonnes of CPO would be used in the domestic market for biodiesel.

Dr Yusof also highlighted that the discounts offered by Indonesia over Malaysia for CPO/CPKO (crude palm kernel oil) is between US$15 and US$25 per tonne while that of RBD PO and RBD PL is between US$30 and US$40. It is US$50 to US$70 for RBD palm stearin.

“Indonesia has failed to recognise that when it introduces new tax structure, Malaysia will respond (accordingly) to recover its market share. The only way for Malaysia to recover our market share is to lower prices. Both Malaysia and Indonesia lose out eventually because of lower prices,” said Dr Yusof.

He said lack of export competitiveness has reduced Malaysian palm oil exports in many markets and also forced stocks to increase in Malaysia. This has led to palm oil prices declining as Malaysian exporters lowered prices to make sales possible.

According to Dr Yusof, Malaysia’s palm oil market share in China fell to 45.72% last year from 59.53% in 2010 but that of Indonesia rose to 53.97% from 40.17% during the same period. Similarly, Malaysia’s market share in the United States dropped to 54.03% from 93.44% while that of Indonesia rose to 44.49% from a mere 5.12%.

As the undercutting continued, both Malaysia and Indonesia suffered from lower export revenue from palm oil, and this defeated the objectives of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) set up last November to protect and improve the benefits of stakeholders, he said.

Positive branding

Dr Yusof said the biggest markets for Malaysian palm oil are the Asia-Pacific, sub-continent and European markets

However, in terms of market growth, the two biggest growth regions are the African and American zones. Between 2001 and 2015, exports to these two regions increased from 382,186 tonnes and 288,000 tonnes to 2.01 million tonnes and 800,000 tonnes respectively (an increasea of 351% and 299%).

He attributed the strong performance to the industry’s continuous efforts in marketing Malaysian palm oil while, at the same time, countering anti-palm oil campaigns through factual evidence and engagement with stakeholders.

“Positive branding of palm oil is the way forward to enhance acceptance of Malaysian palm oil,” said Dr Yusof, adding that an integrated advertising and education campaign launched by MPOC in Europe last year had produced good results.

He said many people had seen the MPOC’s initiative as good and this was going to change the negative perception of palm oil. “Through branding and advertising, we should be able to access markets to appreciate Malaysian palm oil.”

Dr Yusof said to ensure that the Malaysian oil palm industry was sustainable, the production of sustainable palm oil was a necessity.

“Malaysia needs country-level commitment to support 100% (mandatory) sustainable palm oil. This can be achieved under RSPO, MSPO or their equivalent.”

He said that currently only 20% of Malaysian palm oil produced was certified under RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) and less than 2% certified under the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) standard scheme. He anticipates that by 2020, 30% of Malaysian palm oil production would be certified (20% RSPO + 10% MSPO).

“Branding Malaysian palm oil may not be possible if it is not backed by mandatory certification claims. If there is still a two-tier market, the smallholders will be the biggest loser, ” he added.

Review tax structure

In her paper Domestic Measures To Enhance Competitiveness Of The Palm Oil Industry, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May urged Malaysia to re-look its palm oil export tax structure in the wake of Indonesia’s new export levy which would adversely impact Malaysian palm oil export competitiveness.

She said Indonesia has widened the gap between CPO and refined palm oil export taxes to encourage more downstream investments and production of refined palm products.

As the CPO and crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) were relatively cheaper for downstream activities in Indonesia, this has increased the competitiveness of its domestic downstream sector, she said.

“Malaysia and Indonesia compete in the same market, hence the change in export tax rate in one country will affect the other,” said Dr Choo, adding that MPOB and the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry were working on short-term measures to ensure the Malaysian downstream sector remains competitive.

Dr Choo said that as a measure to reduce palm oil stocks and push up palm oil price, the Government launched a RM100mil stabilisation fund last October as incentives for replanting oil palm, targeted at 83,000ha last year.

Under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), the palm oil focus towards 2020 is to accelerate replanting and new planting of oil palm, increase independent smallholders’ income by 30% through increase in yield.

She said the palm oil entry point projects include accelerating replanting, improve fresh fruit bunch yield, improving workers’ productivity in plantations and estates, increasing oil extraction rate, developing biogas facilities at palm oil mills, developing oleo-derivatives and expediting growth of food and health-based downstream segments.

Thestar.com.my



Cattle Integration in the plantation

Sunday, February 7, 2016

3 years after field planting

AAR seedings, 3 years after planting






Monday, January 25, 2016

Cattle Integration With Oil Palm in Sarawak

In view of the labour shortage and fall of FFB price, cattle integration is the best way for estate to reduce its production cost. There is a lot of opportunity in cattle rearing in view of the shortage of cattle in the country. 

The market opportunity is huge especially for korban animal. The demand for korban cattle is growing every year with more than 1000 heads of cattle are imported and the price of cattle is going up.

The only cheaper way of keeping animal in Sarawak is through cattle integration. Therefore I urge the plantations estates to  meet up with the Veterinary Division of the Department of Agriculture Sarawak to work out the project.
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