Oil Palm Smallholder Secret of Success

Monday, November 11, 2013

Malaysia to help palm sector with new biodiesel blend rules

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Malaysia is set to impose a requirement for biodiesel to use 7 per cent palm oil, up from 5 per cent now, as a way of whittling down palm oil stocks and cushioning prices in the face of growing competition from other edible oils. Industry and government officials in the world’s second-biggest palm oil producer said the “B7” biodiesel blend could be mandatory from December as talks with interested parties were nearing a conclusion. “It’s targeted that B7 will be implemented in December. Once we switch to B7, there will be one grade – B7, not B5,” an official with the Malaysian Biodiesel Association with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/money/article/malaysia-to-help-palm-sector-with-new-biodiesel-blend-rules#sthash.S5dENcSS.dpuf

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Government wants small-scale oil palm farmers to thrive

SARIKEI: The government is very protective of the oil palm industry as it currently represents the lion’s share of the nation’s agriculture sector, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.

Launching Koperasi Penanaman Sawit Mampan (KPSM) Sarikei at Bintangor Community Hall near here yesterday, he said about 70 per cent of agriculture land in the country is presently planted with oil palm.

Of these planted areas, 40 per cent are developed on a small scale basis either individually by the landowners themselves or through programmes implemented by agencies such as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), he said.

“This shows that small-scale farmers form a major component of the industry.

“Hence, the government, through MPOB, had been coming up with programmes to help these farmers to thrive and to contribute towards the country’s gross domestic productions (GDP).”

Uggah said the formation of cooperatives would enable small-scale oil palm farmers to enjoy various benefits, such as getting reasonable prices for their produce through the provision of logistic and proper marketing facilities.

Citing statistics from MPOB, he said the price offered by cooperatives was about 20 per cent higher than middleman’s.

In addition, cooperatives could help members reduce production cost through the supply of cheaper fertilisers, pesticide and weed killer.

Cooperatives could also facilitate the disbursement of government assistance, to teach farmers the proper way of applying fertilisers, educate them about good harvesting methods and good agriculture practices (GAP).

All these were done in line with the government’s recognition of the oil palm industry as a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) that is targeted to contribute RM178 billion to the nation’s GDP by 2020, he said.

Uggah said MPOB had sent 59 extension officers (TUNAS) to nine of its branch offices and two research stations in the state to help out, and this initiative has borne positive results in the form of higher yield.

Some participants had been able to reap an average of 30 tonnes per hectare (ha). In fact, at present, 53 small-scale oil palm farmers with a total of 352 ha of oil palm had attained the 30 tonnes per ha mark, and thus belonged to the ‘MPOB 30 Tonnes Club’.

On incentives, Uggah said the government encouraged farmers to cut down trees that are more than 25 years old and plant high-quality seedlings in its place.

The government allocated RM902 million for the 2011 to 2013 period for this oil palm replanting programme.

Under this programme, farmers were given a subsidy of RM9,000 per ha in the form of quality seedlings, other assistance and RM500 monthly maintenance subsidy for a period of two years.

For new comers, the government also extended a RM9,000 per ha assistance, he said, adding that by last month, a total of 19,392 applicants involving 48,266 ha had been approved to participate in the programme.

On KPSM, Uggah said 27 units had been set up across the country, comprising 13 in the peninsula, six in Sabah and eight in Sarawak.

Also present were MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May and Palm Oil and Sago Industries Section secretary Aknan Ehtook.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Oil Palm Price Update

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures continued its rally to close at the highest level so far this year, lifted by persistent buying interest on output concerns.

Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd Derivative Product Specialist David Ng said the expectation of lower production in October, coupled with stronger demand stemming from China, sparked interests among buyers.

Spot month November 2013 rose RM35 to RM2,620 a tonne, December 2013 was RM48 higher at RM2,605, January 2014 climbed RM51 to RM2,598 and February 2014 improved RM49 to RM2,591.

Volume fell to 33,954 lots from 49,517 lots on Wednesday, while open interest narrowed to 180,673 contracts against 195,693 contracts.

Read more: CPO futures rally continues http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/oct31cpo/Article/#ixzz2jXcRH7Pp

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

16 Months After Field Planting

After 16 months, my oil palm grew well but really need a lots of hard work.

My problem would be;

1. Very hard to get reliable labour.

2. Price of input goes up and

price of palm still not so good

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Minister to resolve oil palm fresh fruit bunches price uproar

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas will see Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Sarawak next week to resolve complaints about differing prices of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs). "MPOB will investigate the matter because this (problem) not only happens here (Sarawak). It has been brought up in Parliament too. MPOB will look into the matter as soon as possible, especially on getting a transparent system of valuation," Uggah said. (Borneo Post)

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Will palm oil survive climate change? By Datuk Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid | iabaiw@yahoo.com Writer is a deputy vice-chancellor, INTI Laureate International University Read more: Will palm oil survive climate change?

By Datuk Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid | iabaiw@yahoo.com

Writer is a deputy vice-chancellor, INTI Laureate International University

WORLD leaders met again in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This samba capital of the world hosted a global discourse on the fate of the planet.

The first meeting there was held 20 years ago. The subject matter remained the same. What do we do about the state of the world environment, which is increasingly under threat?

And, the threat is by us, men. Dubbed Rio+20, the meeting proved to be another platform for protests and pledges. Orators as usual had world attention with their rhetoric. Some were even repeats of the last meeting because, admittedly, nothing much has changed. Will Rio+20 be a turning point for the world? Or will it be another merry-making event?

The world climate is definitely changing. The evidence is convincing. The trend in rising global temperatures can no longer be disputed. Melting of the Arctic ice is real. And, extreme weather conditions have been occurring at disturbing regularity. Sadly, global greenhouse gas emissions have not come down. Despite various attempts, international agreements on the mechanisms have not been successful. But, one encouraging development is that more are now convinced that man is responsible. Earlier sceptics have literally disappeared.

Climate change is bound to impact on oil palm. This is worrying. With the rise in temperature, incidences related to water stress may become more prevalent. During times of drought, oil palm yield suffers significantly. This has become evident during the many El Nino periods when water scarcity hit the oil palm sector. Unless something is done to develop a drought-resistant variety, the supply of palm oil for the world market will come under intense pressure. But, climate change is not just about dry periods. The highly uncertain and extreme nature of climate is another common feature. In the case of oil palm, unusually long periods of flooding have also negatively impacted on the supply because of harvesting difficulties.

Destruction of biodiversity is another issue of climate change. It has also become a growing concern of the palm oil industry. Already, some markets are taking potshots, blaming palm oil for the loss in tropical biodiversity through deforestation. They are coming out with all kinds of import restrictions on palm oil.

Greenhouse gas emission is the common criteria used. While the importing countries show palm oil failing to meet the minimum emission levels, the assessment by palm oil exporters shows otherwise. There is a need to come together to agree on the method of assessment.

What is needed is a more comprehensive study. It would be a pity if palm oil is wrongly judged. There is no doubt the growing world population will need more food. Oils and fats are important in man's overall nutrition. In fact, food will not taste as good without fats. In Malaysia, fried kway teow would not taste the same. In South Asia, what would happen to the taste of briyani?

While the world needs more oil, the land to grow them is growing scarce. Climate change is going to make it worse. For example, rain-fed oilseeds region of India is now under intense pressure because of the changing monsoon patterns. But, oil palm offers the best option because of its extremely high yield. In fact, there is potential to increase it further with recent advances in palm oil genomics.

As an important world resource, it is clear that oil palm is not spared from the rigours of climate change. It can be concluded that palm oil will be impacted on both the supply and demand sides.

On the supply side, yield will suffer because of climate-induced water stress situation.

On the demand side, palm oil may be misjudged on its true contribution to climate change and may be wrongfully penalised. Unless these issues are addressed, they will upset the supply and demand equation for palm oil. Its price movement may become volatile, which is not good for both suppliers and buyers of palm oil. But, of more concern is that the world may be denied the benefits of a highly productive oil source! Will it survive?

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Palm Reserves Climbing as Production Expands for Sixth Month By Ranjeetha Pakiam September 06, 2013 6:59 AM EDT

Palm oil stockpiles probably increased in August as output in Malaysia, the second-largest producer, advanced for a sixth month to the highest level this year, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Production climbed 3 percent to 1.72 million metric tons from 1.67 million tons in July, the median of six estimates from plantation companies, analysts and traders showed. That would be the highest since December, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. Reserves expanded 3 percent to 1.71 million tons, while exports gained 6.3 percent to 1.51 million tons, the survey showed. Imports declined 20 percent to 40,000 tons, according to the median of five estimates. The board will publish the dataon Sept. 10.

Palm, used in everything from candy to biofuel, is produced year-round with supply accelerating in the second half because of growing cycles. While output jumped 18 percent in July from a month earlier, growth in production slowed in August as workers were on leave for the Eid festival, said Abah Ofon, a Singapore-based analyst at Standard Chartered Plc.

“Even if we had to discount the break during Eid, I don’t think we would have seen a huge increase in output,” Ofon said in a phone interview. “One of the things we’re coming to terms with is that we’re not going to see similar expansion in production as we saw last year. Just looking at the way outputtrended in April, May and June, there’s reason to believe that you won’t see a huge spike in the second half.”

Production Flat

Production from April to June fell 1.3 percent from the first quarter compared with a 12 percent surge a year earlier, board data show. Production may be unchanged or slightly lower in 2013 from 18.8 million tons last year, said Ofon.

Palm oil for November delivery climbed 1.3 percent to close at 2,444 ringgit ($735) a ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives. Prices gained 7.5 percent in August, the biggest monthly gain since December 2010, supported by a rally in soybeans on concern hot, dry weather in the U.S. Midwest would hurt crops. Soybeans are crushed to make a substitute oil.

The median survey estimate for reserves in August was about 19 percent lower than the 2.11 million tons a year earlier, according to board data. End-year stockpiles will not reach the record 2.63 million tons in December, said Ofon.

“While we have a big decline in inventories, I don’t think we’re going to see a huge rally,” said Ofon. “I would expect a slight pullback in prices because demand tends to be relatively weak at this time and we’ll also see an improvement in soybean yields as we head into the harvest in the U.S.”

Diwali Festival

Global palm stockpiles will surge 21 percent to a record 9.7 million tons by the end of 2013-2014, while demand expands 4.6 percent, the least in 12 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates.

Demand will recover next month as Indiabuys before the Diwali festival which falls in November, said Ofon. Imports by India, the world’s biggest consumer, declined for the first time in three months in July after a slump in the rupee to a record increased costs for refiners.

Inbound shipments of crude and refined palm oils dropped 5.2 percent to 568,254 tons from 599,128 tons a year earlier, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said on Aug. 14.

        Aug. 2013 (Survey)   July 2013 (MPOB)   Aug. 2012 (MPOB)
Output         1.72              1.67               1.66
Stockpiles     1.71               1.66               2.11
Exports        1.51               1.42               1.44
Imports        0.04               0.05              0.065
Figures are in millions of tons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ranjeetha Pakiam in Kuala Lumpur atrpakiam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole atjpoole4@bloomberg.net

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