Malaysian palm oil output forecast cut

19/05/2009 (Business Times, India), Hamburg - Malaysian October 2008/September 2009 palm oil output is likely to reach only 17.8 million tonnes Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast yesterday.

This was down from its previous estimate of 18.0 million tonnes.

The cut was made following surprisingly low Malaysian output in April, Oil World said. But Malaysian output would still be up on the 17.5 million tonnes produced in 2007/08.

Malaysia and Indonesian are the world’s leading palm oil exporters.

“We still expect Malaysian production to surpass the year-ago level in coming months but the increase anticipated for the full season is sharply below average at only one per cent,” it said.

“The sharp seasonal growth of production next quarter should allow a recovery of Malaysian palm oil stocks from the current low level to roughly 1.6 million tonnes by end-September, still down sharply from 1.95 million tonnes the year before.”

Malaysian April palm oil stocks were estimated on May 11 at 1.29 million tonnes by the country’s palm oil board.

Oil World’s October/September 2008/09 Indonesian palm oil production estimate remains unchanged at 20.2 to 20.3 million tonnes, up seven per cent on the season but again below the growth seen in recent years.

“World demand for palm oil continues to grow sharply this season, despite the production slowdown in Malaysia and Indonesia,” it said. “We forecast an increase in world consumption by 3.9 million tonnes this season, partly to compensate for the pronounced decline in soyoil supplies and use.” - Reuters

Oil Commodity Trading

EU- Introduction of B7 announced

The German Association for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP) has announced today in a news release that the introduction of B7 may begin immediately. The new blend’s name is DIN 51628.

According to UFOP, the market potential for bio-diesel is estimated to increase from the move from 1.5 to 2.1 million mt. Further, UFOP expects the demand for rape to be temporarily revived with this measure.

A novel technology for synthesizing chemicals from plant material could produce liquid fuels for just over €0.50 ($0.65) a liter, PhysOrg reports. Scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have developed a novel technology, known as biolig, to produce a range of different types of liquid fuel such as diesel and chemicals from plant material such as wood and straw.

In conjunction with the German process engineering company Lurgi, the Institute is starting to construct a pilot plant based on the bioliq technology, which should be fully completed in 2012.

The creator of the Trident Iceni sports car, which can travel for 2,000 miles on one tank of either diesel or bio-diesel, will now fly to the US in an effort to strike a deal to use a General Motors recently closed plant in Dayton, The GreenCarWebsite reports. He began to work on the sports car two years ago and it has already been tested on a race track to prove it can achieve 68.9mpg while travelling at a steady 70mph. The inventor believes that his vehicle offers a real solution as both the US and UK governments scramble to bailout their auto industries and assist low carbon initiatives. (2 February 2009)