The
Malaysian Palm Oil council is an organization set up in 1990 with the
objective of making Malaysian Palm Oil the leading vegetable oil in
the world. Our vision is to bring Malaysia to the forefront of the global
oil and fats market and provide the world's consumers with healthy choices.
Palm
was introduced to Malaya as an ornamental plant at the beginning of
the 20th century, but only in 1917 was the first commercial planting
made. What followed , dramatically shaped the Malaysian Palm Oil industry.
Today Malaysia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm
oil.
Palm
oil's unique composition makes it nutritionally rich and versatile in
Its uses. It is employed in the manufacture of snacks and farsans, bakery
shortening, vanaspati and also in industrial frying of packaged foods
all over the world. It has a high content of natural antioxidants and
is also very stable, hence making it suitable as a deep frying medium.
Palm
oil is also a good starting material for the manufacture of non-edible
products such as soaps, detergents and other surfactants.
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India
is the world's sixth largest economy and one of its fastest growing.
With a consistent GDP growth in excess of 8 per cent and with booming
manufacturing and foods sector there is growing demand for raw material.
For example, we face a huge shortage of vegetable oils that will only
increase in the years to come. The local demand for oil is rising at
a spectacular pace with the advent of rapidly expanding manufacturing
and food processing industries. To meet this challenge, India imports
over 3 million tonnes of palm oil as well as equally large quantities
of other vegetable oils, largely from the East Asian countries. Currently
palm oil provides one-fourth of our edible oil requirements. It not
only supplements traditional edible oils, it also has nutritional and
health impacts which can revolutionize the traditional Indian diet.
Palm oil can also be an effective and inexpensive option in thousands
of non-food products such as soaps, cosmetics and more.
Indian
diets contain enormous amounts of oil. So wouldn't it be wonderful if
we find a cooking medium that's actually good for you and takes care
of your health? Well there is, and its called Malaysian Palm Oil.
A
member of the vegetable oil family, palm fruit oil is cholesterol free
and it supplies our bodies with some basic daily energy needs.
As
palm oil is solid at room temperature there is no need to use hydrogenation,
a technique that hardens liquid oil but also produces damaging trans
fatty acids and raises cholesterol levels in the process. It is a good
replacement for partially hydrogenated oils for many reasons.
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Update:
20th Jan,2009
Domestic edible oil tender
After
virtually halting the import of edible oil for distribution
under the subsidised sale scheme on low response from the
states, government agencies are finding it increasingly difficult
to dispose off the unsold stock even through regular tenders.
Sources said that even though the government has agreed to
bear the losses arising out of such sale,the timid response
from traders to open tenders has impacted the PSUs plans to
offload the unsold stock of edible oil.
Incidentally,
the government had mandated all state agencies to dispose
their stocks of unsold imported edible oils by January 15,
2009.Nafed still has around 22,000 tonne of edible oils for
sale to local buyers. Sources said that other state-run trading
companies, sitting with huge stocks of unsold imported edible
oils, like the State Trading Corporation, MMTC and PEC are
also finding it difficult to dispose stocks because of the
sharp fall in global and local oil prices.
Due
to a drastic drop in global crude edible oil prices, even
sales in the open market has been rather slow. Nafed has incurred
losses of around Rs.60 crore (aprox.USD 12 million) on distribution
of imported edible oil, which is reimbursed by the government.
Imports set to fall in first quarter.
Imports,
especially of palm oil products, showed a significant rise
in the last quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in
2007 and also compared to the third quarter of 2008. This
was as a direct consequence of firstly, falling international
prices and secondly due to trade apprehensions about an increase
in palm oil import duties. This increased imports have filled
up the supply pipe-line and this is likely to affect adversely
imports in the first quarter of 2009. This situation will
also be influenced by the arrival of the new rabi crop from
the end of February 2009.
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Update:
13th Jan,2009
Procedural woes for oil importers
As if the woes resulting from market factors were not sufficient,
oil importers in E.India are faced with procedural issues as
well. In accordance with the requirements of the extant food
laws, importers are required to obtain a clearance certificate
from the Port Health Officer regarding the fitness for human
consumption. This certificate is issued after the imported oil
is tested by the Central Food Laboratory (CFL).
According to the All India Oils and Seeds Foreign Trade Association,
the post of the Director of CFL has been vacant for more than
a week and nobody is authorized to issue the test results. This
has resulted in a back log of 25000MT of uncleared palm oil
in the Kolkata port.
In the normal course as well, such a clearance takes upto 14
days in Kolkata whereas in Mumbai it takes only 4-5 days.
Imports rise on duty fears
Trade sources estimate Indian vegetable oils imports in December
2008 at 700,000MT, of which palm oil was 90%. This compares
with 519,000MT of palm oil imported in November 2008. This sharp
increase may be ascribed to trade apprehensions of an imposition
of import duties on palm oil. An import duty of 20% was imposed
on Crude SBO in November but palm oil duties were left untouched
at zero.
Another factor contributing to the higher imports was the falling
international prices of palm oil. Both factors combined led
to an increase in imports for stocking up. This abnormally high
level of imports may affect adversely the imports in January
2009.
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Update:
6th Jan,2009
Import duty differential favours palm.
Historically, import duty differential have always been in favour
of soya oil, with higher duties being always applicable to palm
oils. In what may seem to be a reversal of this policy, the
GOI imposed a duty of 20% on CDSBO in November 2008, leaving
the duties on CPO and other crude vegetable oils at 0%. Combined
with the higher international prices for CDSBO, the landed prices
of palm oil in India have become very attractive to Indian importers.
This has resulted in a complete replacement of palm oil products
in place of SBO in the import basket.
Although
there have been serious calls by SEA of India for the imposition
of import duties on CPO as well, high level meeting of key
officials of the relevant ministries has decided against such
a move for the time being. How long palm oil will enjoy this
advantage remains to be seen.
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