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Last Updated: 09 July 2024

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SANDAKAN: It is 3pm and feeding time at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah.

Malim, a majestic male orangutan with distinctive cheek pads, shuffles confidently onto the feeding platform, where bananas, sweet potatoes and vegetables like long beans have been laid out by the centre’s staff.

To the excitement of about 50 visitors watching from about 18m away, Malim starts tucking in, unperturbed by a group of macaques that are also helping themselves to the food.

A female orangutan and her baby soon join them.

Feeding takes place twice a day at Sepilok and is a highlight for many visitors to the centre, a popular tourist spot in Sabah.

Located at the fringe of the 4,294-hectare Kabili-Sepilok rainforest, the centre started in 1964 to rehabilitate orphaned, injured, and displaced orangutans and return them to the wild.

The forest is home to an estimated 150 to 200 orangutans while the centre, operated by the Sabah Wildlife Department, currently cares for 42 of the great apes.

There is no guarantee, however, that visitors will get to see orangutans at feeding time – and for the centre’s staff, that’s a positive sign.

The feeding platform is a gateway between the centre and the forest, and the staff provide a limited and monotonous spread for the orangutans to encourage them to forage independently in the wild.

“The objective of this centre is for rehabilitated orangutans to be no longer dependent on us and to be free in the forest, where they can look for their own food,” said Mr Adrianus Tim Onong, a Sepilok officer.

The conservation and role of orangutans in Malaysia have come under the spotlight in recent months.

In May, plantation and commodities minister Johari Abdul Ghani said that the country should engage in “orangutan diplomacy” to counter bad press on palm oil and bolster relations with importers such as the European Union, India and China. 

The European Union last year approved a ban on imports of commodities linked to deforestation, which could hurt the palm oil industry. Malaysia has criticised the law, calling it discriminatory.

Palm oil has been linked to the destruction of orangutan habitats, and Mr Johari said Malaysia – the world’s second-largest producer after Indonesia – cannot take a defensive approach. 

Instead, it should show it is a sustainable palm oil producer committed to protecting forests and environmental sustainability, he said.

Inspired by China’s practice of sending pandas as diplomatic gifts to other countries, Mr Johari suggested giving orangutans to palm oil importers.

In 2023, the top importers of Malaysian palm oil were India (18.8 per cent), China (9.7 per cent), the European Union (7.1 per cent), Kenya (6.1 per cent) and Turkiye (5.8 per cent), according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

The sector accounted for five per cent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2022.

But Mr Johari’s idea was quickly panned by conservationists as well as state officials in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian states where wild orangutans are found.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-orangutan-diplomacy-sabah-sepilok-palm-oil-conservation-endangered-apes-4453916

Sumber : Channel News Asia

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Last Updated: 27 June 2024

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KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives snapped three consecutive days of losses to end higher on Wednesday on prospects of weaker production in the coming weeks, said palm oil trader David Ng.

“We see support at RM3,830 a tonne and resistance at RM3,980 a tonne,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Fastmarkets senior analyst Sathia Varqa said the CPO futures traded higher in the second half session with the benchmark September contract rising RM35 to a high of RM3,894 a tonne, in anticipation of lower production data.

“The Southern Palm Oil Millers Association (SPPOMA) reported that the June 1-25 production was down by 5.62% from the corresponding period in May,” he said.

Sathia noted that the stronger CPO performance was also supported by a recovery in related edible oils on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).

According to reports, soybean oil futures closed higher on Wednesday in daytime trading at the DCE.

“The most active soybean contract for September 2026 delivery gained four yuan to close at 4,643 yuan per tonne, with total trading volume on the exchange amounting to 89,716 lots, and turnover of about 4.14 billion yuan,” it said.

At the close, the spot month July 2024 contract added RM29 to RM3,926 a tonne, August 2024 increased by RM20 to RM3,894 a tonne, and September 2024 was RM20 higher at RM3,879 a tonne.

October 2024 rose by RM19 to RM3,871 a tonne, November 2024 climbed RM20 to RM3,876 per tonne, and December 2024 gained RM19 to RM3,893 a tonne.

Total volume declined to 58,236 lots from Tuesday’s 65,240 lots, while open interest fell to 206,042 contracts from 211,517 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for July South was RM30 higher at RM3,980 per tonne.

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/716946

Sumber : The Edge Malaysia

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Last Updated: 27 June 2024

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SASKATOON — Canada’s canola growers should not expect much price support from palm oil in 2024-25.

Regina Koh, market reporter for Fastmarkets, anticipates a modest improvement in global palm oil production this year, but the same can’t be said for the other side of the ledger.

 “There is no strong demand catalyst to propel prices significantly higher,” she said during a recent Fastmarkets webinar.

Palm oil prices are about half the level they were at the peak of 2022, shortly after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and Indonesia announcing an export ban on the product.

That led to palm oil trading at a premium to rival products such as soybean oil and sunflower oil for a prolonged period.

Prices cooled in 2023 and then perked up again in April 2024 due to tightness of supply compared to soybean and sunflower oil.

Prices have since subsided due to the official demise of El Nino and the anticipated arrival of La Nina somewhere in the July to September timeframe.

El Nino typically hurts palm oil production while La Nina enhances it, although there can be a six-to-nine-month lag for weather effects on trees.

Koh expects Malaysian crude palm oil futures prices in 2024 to remain rangebound in the neighbourhood of 3,600 to 4,000 Malaysian ringgets (MYR).

That is well below the highs of 7,000 MYR achieved in 2022 but in line with the 2023 average of 3,796 MYR.

Malaysia’s crude palm oil production was 7.5 million tonnes for the first five months of 2024, which is better than it has been for the same period the last three years.

She expects total annual production to be in line with the 19.26 million tonnes produced in 2020. That is due primarily to better labour supply in the post-COVID era.

Indonesia’s prices have been elevated longer than usual due to low stocks heading into 2024.

The country has a “chronic problem” of aging trees and slow replanting of those trees.

However, improved fertilizer application and a mild El Nino should result in 48 million tonnes of production for the world’s biggest palm oil producer.

That would be down from last year but similar to 2022’s output.

However, the country’s new B35 (35 per cent) biodiesel blending mandate could reduce the amount of supply available for export.

An estimated 13.41 million kilolitres of biodiesel will be consumed, up from 13.15 million kilolitres in 2023.

Koh anticipates the government will boost the mandate to B40 (40 per cent) by the end of the year.

Palm had been trading at a premium to soybean and sunflower oil into the Indian market earlier this year but that has changed in recent months.

“Palm is back to trading at a discount to its rivals,” she said.

“This will help to boost its demand for June and July imports.”

India imported a record 16.5 million tonnes of vegetable oil in 2022-23 (October-November). She expects that number to fall to 15.2 to 15.6 million tonnes in 2023-24.

The country is expected to harvest a good crop of its own oilseeds, particularly rapeseed. As well, edible oil prices are higher than last year, which is discouraging imports.

India’s palm oil imports are forecast at 9.4 to 9.6 million tonnes, which would be a drop from last year due to stiff price competition from soybean oil now that Argentina is back in the market.

China’s vegetable oil imports peaked at 10.4 million tonnes in 2021.

“Since then, it has been a bit of a yo-yo,” she said.

Imports fell in 2022 and then rebounded in 2023. She thinks vegetable oil imports will dip to 8.43 million tonnes in 2024 from 9.93 million tonnes last year.

Restocking is happening at a slower pace than last year, partly because of the surge in palm oil prices in March-April.

Palm oil is facing stiff competition in China from competing products, particularly rapeseed/canola oil.

https://www.producer.com/news/palm-oil-prices-cool/

Sumber : The Western Producer

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Last Updated: 25 June 2024

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The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has called for an oil hub or redistribution centre to be set up in Egypt to build on recent cooperation between the two countries, the New Straits Times reported.

MPOB director general Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir was quoted as saying the initiative had mutual benefits and was in line with the countries’ aim to cooperate in investments within the agro-commodities sectors and bulking facilities.

“By leveraging Egypt’s strategic position and ability to re-export to neighbouring countries, Malaysia can consider establishing a hub for Malaysian palm-based downstream products at one of Egypt’s major ports,” Dr Kadir told Business Times.

The proposed hub in Egypt would serve as a vital link in the distribution chain, ensuring timely delivery of palm oil products to markets in the Middle East and North Africa, the 6 June report said.

“This can also encourage small quantity imports by Egyptian industry members directly from Malaysian exporters, thus eliminating the additional cost of dealing with a third party,” Dr Kadir added.

In addition, he said Malaysia could establish its distribution hub in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), to provide facilities to boost the market presence of Malaysian palm-based products in the region.

For this reason, he said the Malaysian oil palm industry could consider investing in bulking facilities in Egypt to gain market share in this region.

"Egypt, with its unique geography, has high potential to be an economic and industrial hub, linking Europe, the Middle East and Africa – a unique trade triangle connected to the world via the Suez Canal,” he said.

https://www.ofimagazine.com/news/mpob-calls-for-setting-up-of-oil-hub-or-redistribution-centre-in-egypt

Sumber : Oil and Fat International