Palm oil. January 2022

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​Read curated news that impacts the global palm oil industry.
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Indonesia - Aiming for energy resilience, decarbonization through grid interconnections
In a country as large and as populous as Indonesia, electricity is both a necessity and a luxury. From the bright neon lights of its metropolises to the starlit skies of remote villages, a little bit of light goes a very long way. Even so, the global push for sustainability has pushed renewed focus on the potential of renewable energy for every conceivable purpose, including powering nations around the globe.

Taking into account Indonesia’s varied distribution and availability of power grids, what does it mean for the country’s future?

Speaking at an HK ExperTalk webinar on January 26th, Director of Electricity Program Development Jisman Hutajulu, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources explained that the electricity program should take into account the “5K” of “kecukupan, keandalan, keberlanjutan, keterjangkauan dan keadilan” (sufficiency, reliability, sustainability, affordability and fairness). “Sufficiency” covers the electricity needs of the entire nation, from supply and demand to surplus energy.

At the same time, the electricity supply must be reliable enough to avoid blackouts, sustainable enough to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement, affordable enough for the general public and widespread enough to cover frontier, outermost and least developed (3Ts) regions. According to Jisman, the government is currently preparing to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy while also planning to install interconnected power grids on major islands. The Jakarta Post

Malaysia - ​MPOC: Middle East continues to be an important export destination for Malaysian palm oil
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 30): With a population base of over 330 million and consumption of 2.34 million tonnes last year, an increase of 8% from 2020, the Middle East region will continue to be an important export destination for Malaysia, Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) said.

Chief executive officer Wan Aishah Wan Hamid said the region has shown consistent growth in consumption of specialty fats and palm oil would benefit from this trend due to its nutritional qualities and functional attributes.

“This region is also set to see a boost in demand due to the global events like Expo 2020 Dubai, FIFA 2022, religious tourism and more,” she told Bernama.

Last year, the export of Malaysian palm oil to the Middle East registered an increase of 8.2%.

The leading importer from this region is Turkey with a volume of 703,588 tonnes followed by Iran with 404,319 tonnes.

These two markets have recorded increases of 19% and 25% respectively.

Other countries which recorded increases are United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Kuwait.

“The UAE palm oil market is expected to reach US$467.1 million (US$1=RM4.19) by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research Inc,” Wan Aishah said.​ The Edge Markets

Malaysian firms facing U.S. bans over forced labour summoned by ministry
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Human Resources Ministry said on Sunday it would call in all companies facing U.S. import bans over suspected forced labour practices to discuss immediate action to address the allegations.

Malaysian factories, which include major suppliers of palm oil and medical gloves, have been under increased scrutiny over allegations of abuse of migrant workers, who make up a significant part of the country's manufacturing workforce.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Friday it would bar imports from disposable glove maker YTY Group based on information indicating that the firm used forced labour, the seventh such ban on a Malaysian company in two years.

The agency also determined that Malaysian palm oil producer Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SIPL.KL) uses forced labour in its operations and that the company's goods were subject to seizure.

Malaysian Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said on Sunday he would meet with all firms facing import bans in the United States, along with two glove makers - WRP Asia Pacific and Top Glove Corp. - that had seen their bans lifted by the CBP.

"The approaches implemented by these two companies can be used as guidelines and improvements for other firms," Saravanan said in a statement.​ Reuters

Malaysia - Sime Darby Plantation Berhad Responds to USCBP General Notice of Forced Labour Finding
Petaling Jaya, 28 January 2022 - Today (28th January 2022) the United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP), determined that certain Sime Darby Plantation Berhad(SDP) palm oil products are produced using convict, forced or indentured labour.

The finding is primarily aimed at Sime Darby Plantation Berhad’s Malaysian operations.

SDP’s Group Managing Director, Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said:

“Since the Withhold Release Order was issued on 16th December 2020, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has cooperated fully with the USCBP.

“In response to these (16th December 2020) allegations, the Company had appointed an independent ethical trade consultancy to undertake a full-scale, independent, assessment spanning its facilities across Malaysia.

“This work was delayed by the Government-mandated Covid-19 restrictions across Malaysia, but is now close to completion.”

This finding by the USCBP is hugely disappointing, coming just ahead of the publication of the independent report. Through the in-depth, onsite work done by the independent consultant, SDP is confident this report will demonstrate that the company has internal controls and systems in place to support its workers and ensure their well-being.

“We look forward to cooperating with the USCBP and to demonstrating our full compliance with US import regulations.” Sime Darby Plantation

Indonesia - ​DMO policy to suppress palm oil fresh fruit price: Apkasindo
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The imposition of mandatory domestic sales on palm oil will suppress the price of palm oil fresh fruit bunch (TBS), according to the Indonesia Palm Oil Farmer Association (Apkasindo).

Apkasindo Head Gulat Manurung stated here on Friday that the policy will spark the palm oil industry to slash the price of TBS from the farmers' side.

"The policy is only aimed at saving cooking oil consumers, but on the other hand, it victimizes us, the farmers," Manurung stressed.

The increased price of crude palm oil (CPO) would reflect on the price of fresh fruit bunches, though it would not significantly increase the farmers' profits as fertilizer prices had skyrocketed.

In 2021, the price of fertilizers had jumped by 185 percent.

Hence, Apkasindo has called on the government to prepare a policy that necessitates industries, while buying palm oil fresh fruit, to refer to the commodity's price in the international market (CIF Rotterdam).​ Antara News

Indonesia asks palm oil exporters to keep 20% of supply for domestic use
Indonesia issued a mandate for palm oil producers on Jan. 27 to set aside 20% of their crude palm oil shipments for local buyers as the world's largest vegetable oil producer and exporter tries to reign in high domestic edible oil prices.

The country also set a price cap of Rupiah 9,300 /kg ($0.67) for crude palm oil and Rupiah 10,300/kg for palm olein effective Jan. 27, trade minister Muhammad Lutfi said in a press conference.
The move follows a Jan. 18 announcement requiring palm oil exporters to declare how much CPO, refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBD) Palm Olein and Used Cooking Oil (UCO) they plan to sell internationally and to the domestic market to obtain permits for their exports for the next six months.

At the time Lutfi had said that the policy change will help ensure a steady supply of raw material for Indonesia's Rupiah 7.6 trillion ($528 million) one-price cooking oil policy, which will supply about 1.5 billion liters of subsidized cooking oil (roughly 1.36 million mt) in the next six months.

The Jan. 27 regulation was widely expected by the market, which was also expecting Jakarta to mandate sellers to commit 25% of their cargos for domestic use, sources told S&P Global Platts.​ S&P Global Platts

Malaysia - ​Palm oil soars to RM5,500 as Indonesia sets export rule
JAKARTA (Jan 27): Palm oil rallied to RM5,500 a ton, a fresh record high, as top grower Indonesia imposed a rule that exporters must set aside some supply for the domestic market in a bid to cool prices.

Exporters must allocate 20% of their shipments for local supply, Indonesia's trade minister Muhammad Lutfi said. The rule takes effect on Thursday. The government will set prices of local crude palm oil sales at 9,300 rupiah (US$0.65) a kilogramme and olein at 10,300 rupiah.

The move comes after palm oil repeatedly notched fresh records, driven by a severe labour crunch in Malaysia and tight global vegetable oil supplies. The latest rally was also fuelled by a surge in rival fuels such as soybean and crude oil, as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has the potential to disrupt supplies of sunflower oil and bolster demand for palm.

Futures for April delivery jumped as much as 3.2% after Indonesia's announcement to RM5,500 a ton, an all-time high for the most-active, rolling contract. The tropical oil, used in everything from cooking oil to ice cream and detergent, has climbed 60% in the past year. The Edge Markets

U.S. Says Sufficient Evidence of Forced Labour at Malaysia's Sime Darby Plantation
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The United States on Friday said it has sufficient information to determine that Malaysian palm oil producer Sime Darby Plantation Bhd uses forced labour and that the firm's goods are subject to seizure.

Malaysian factories making products ranging from medical gloves to palm oil have increasingly come under scrutiny https://www.reuters.com/business/dyson-splits-with-malaysia-supplier-stoking-concern-over-migrant-worker-2021-12-05 over allegations they abuse foreign workers, who form a significant part of the manufacturing workforce.

In 2020, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had barred https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-blocks-palm-oil-imports-malaysias-sime-darby-over-forced-labour-allegations-2020-12-31 Malaysian products of Sime Darby Plantation, the world's biggest palm oil planter by land size, citing reasonable suspicion of use of forced labour. That allowed the authorities to detain goods at ports.

On Friday, the CBP published a "finding" on Sime Darby Plantation that would allow it to seize the firm's products.​ US News

Global - From Palm to Plate
Mustika Sembuluh is in the province of Central Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo.

The company that owns it, PT Mustika Sembuluh, is a subsidiary of Asia’s leading agribusiness corporation, Wilmar International.

Wilmar has 232,053 hectares (ha) of oil palm under cultivation across the world – an area almost as large as the country of Luxembourg. Two thirds of this plantation land is in Indonesia.

PT Mustika Sembuluh has been certified as a grower of sustainable oil palm fruit with the RSPO since 2010 – the first plantation company to achieve this in Indonesian Borneo (otherwise referred to as Kalimantan).

The RSPO, or Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, is central to this story. Founded in 2004 by leading industry actors and WWF, it was the first international, multi-stakeholder effort to tackle the growing environmental and social problems caused by the production of palm oil. China Dialogue

Malaysia - Borneo island's Sabah state spearheads green palm oil revolution
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Malaysia's Sabah state, on Borneo island, is looking to revolutionise its palm oil industry with a decade-long initiative that will ensure all growers adopt ethical standards and are certified as sustainable producers by 2025.

The innovative project, launched in 2015, brings together the state's authorities, plantation owners, palm oil traders and buyers, green groups and local communities.

Led by the Sabah government, the scheme will help all oil palm growers - big and small - first earn national-level green certification as a stepping stone to meeting the global standard managed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

It is hoped the state's effort will help protect and restore forests, improve agriculture practices and oil palm yields, resolve land disputes, end labour abuses and eventually give producers access to international premium-paying buyers. Reuters

Indonesia imposes mandatory domestic sales on palm oil - minister
JAKARTA — Indonesia has imposed a rule starting Thursday for a mandatory portion of palm oil to be sold domestically at a maximum price of 9,300 rupiah ($0.6465) per kg for crude palm oil and 10,300 rupiah per kg for olein, its trade minister said.

The so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) will be applied to all cooking oil exporters and they will be required to sell 20% of their planned export to the domestic market, Muhammad Lutfi told a virtual briefing.

Benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures surged to all-time highs this week, in part due to a threat by Indonesia, the world’s top producer and exporter of palm oil, to control shipments.
​FinancialPost

Malaysia - ​Red-Hot Rally in Palm Oil Reveals Dirty Jobs That No One Wants
(Bloomberg) -- Oil palm planters in Malaysia are confronting a hard truth -- behind the red-hot rally in prices are thousands of jobs that nobody wants.

While high prices typically encourage planting and production of crops, output in No. 2 grower Malaysia slumped to a five-year low last year and planters say the main reason for that is the industry’s worst-ever shortage of workers.
The inability to increase supply in response to rising prices goes to the heart of what’s driving palm oil to record highs. Output growth in top producer Indonesia is slowing too. This is important for global food inflation because the two countries account for more than 80% of world supplies, and consumption of the edible oil in everything from food, to detergent and fuel is expanding.
“The volume of palm oil that will come onto the market is more or less fixed and not going to grow very much,” said Julian Conway McGill, Head of South East Asia at LMC International, a consulting firm. “But the world keeps needing more vegetable oil for food. We need to get those yields up.”
Shunned by locals for being dirty, dangerous, and even demeaning, harvesting jobs on Malaysian estates are mostly taken by foreign workers that make up around 85% of the labor force. Planters have grappled with a decreasing supply of workers for years as harvesters -- many of whom were Indonesians -- chose to return home for better wages, or preferred jobs in the city. Yahoo/Bloomberg

Global North will be responsible for sixth mass extinction
We're amidst the first extinction event in 65 million years. At least, that's what a groundbreaking new Biological Reviews study found.

However, this sixth mass extinction differs as it's entirely caused by one destructive force: humans, or more specifically, the world's richest humans.

This latest announcement is a shocking example of the unprecedented speed at which human induced climate change is affecting the natural world, and scientists believe that within a few centuries, 75 percent of all species could cease to exist.

Indeed, this isn't just a horrible loss of the world's plants and animals, it's the latest example of the Global North's climate debt - incurred over centuries of economic expansion which has disregarded and harmed the Global South. After all, the world's wealthiest remain responsible for 80 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions since the Industrial Revolution.

And on that quest for wealth and power, the Global North catalysed a sixth mass extinction that is predominately and disproportionately affecting the Global South.

For example, Africa, where I'm from, is already feeling the effects of this loss of biodiversity; millions face food insecurity, soil infertility, water shortages, natural disasters – and even pandemics. East Africa is suffering from a drought so extreme herders have lost up to 70 percent of their livestock, and 26 million in the region are struggling to access food.​ EUObserver

EU policies led to the collapse of the oilseed rape crop in the UK and Europe, according to a new report released today.
The bloc's climate change polices initially rewarded the widespread planting of oilseed rape, the world’s most important vegetable oil after soybean.

But subsequent pesticide laws have ultimately led to very large yield losses across the continent in recent years.

This collapse of oilseed rape farming in the UK and Europe had led to a reliance on imported oils – including palm oil.

The findings of the report will be presented later on Wednesday at a meeting of the British Crop Protection Council by lead author, Dr Patricia Ortega-Ramos from Rothamsted Research.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, she said the series of EU policy decisions essentially ‘created a serious crop pest’.

“This is a great example of how a better understanding of pests and joined up decision making are going to be vital if we are to reform farming," she added.

“The EU’S 2009 Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive was not well implemented, and as a result of that and subsequent decisions, the cabbage stem flea beetle has now become a serious pest.

"The area of oilseed rape being grown is now falling sharply, with huge financial consequences for farmers and major environmental consequences for all of us. FarmingUK

Indonesian Ambassador pledges cooperation to strengthen Sri Lanka Palm Oil smallholders
Jan 26, Colombo: A special meeting was held on the 11th of January 2022 between the Palm Oil Association of Sri Lanka (POIASL) and Dewi Gustina Tobing, Indonesia’s recently-appointed Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

The present role of, and challenges faced by, the oil palm industry in Sri Lanka were discussed at the meeting, with the intention of obtaining support, expertise and assistance from Indonesia, the world’s biggest producer of palm oil.

The POIASL delegation was well received by the Ambassador at her offices and the President of the Association, Dr Rohan Fernando, who is also the Managing Director of Elpitiya Plantations PLC, led the discussions. The outcome of the meeting was positive and the Ambassador agreed to engineer cooperation between the two nations to strengthen smallholder involvement in cultivating oil palms.

The potential for economic emancipation and rural development through oil palm cultivation by smallholders was also highlighted at the meeting. It was pointed out that smallholders account for more than 40% of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, and that this trend has seen huge socio-economic development within that country’s rural sector. Replicating this in Sri Lanka could increase prosperity for rural communities, while also reducing Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange spending on edible oil imports. ColomboPage

Indonesia runs early tests to produce palm oil gasoline
JAKARTA: Indonesia has conducted early tests to produce gasoline made from palm oil, its energy ministry said on Tuesday (Jan 25), as it seeks to expand use of the vegetable oil in its energy sector.

To absorb more of its palm oil output and slash fuel imports, the world's biggest producer of the oil in 2020 launched a mandatory B30 biodiesel, which is 30 per cent palm oil, one of the highest palm oil concentrations used in a biofuel globally.

Indonesia aims to increase the palm oil content in the biodiesel and use it to produce other fuels.

It conducted a test flight using jet fuel mixed with palm oil last year and plans to do road tests for biodiesel containing 40 per cent palm fuel next month.

"We must work to become independent in areas that are important for our nation, such as the energy sector. We have various energy sources that have not been fully utilised," energy minister Arifin Tasrif said in a statement.

Biodiesel makes up around 38 per cent of Indonesia's domestic palm oil consumption last year, the Indonesia Palm Oil Association estimated.​ ChannelNewsAsia

India - ​Oil Palm Cultivation: Smallholder Farmers have the Potential to grow in a Sustainable Way
India's edible oil sector is strategically important. Because of the highest consumption and affordability due to the highest oil yield production per acre, palm oil and its derivatives become the most important. Palm oil alone accounts for more than 37% of India's edible oil needs and 60% of its import basket.

Land-owning farmers brought over 4 lakh hectares of land under oil palm cultivation until the fiscal year 2020-21, with Andhra Pradesh & Telangana bringing more than 2 lakh hectares of land under oil palm cultivation through farmers.

Following a thorough review of the many issues encountered by farmers, the Government of India launched a sustainable mission-NMEO-OP in August 2021 to improve its growth towards big scale plantation to the extent of an additional 6.5 lakh hectares by 2025-26 through smallholders. Smallholder (SH) farmers and processors helped the governments of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh make oil palm production successful and sustainable over time.

Encouraging Report​ KrishiJagran

UN SDGs - ​Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Globally, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 36 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2015. But the pace of change is decelerating and the COVID-19 crisis risks reversing decades of progress in the fight against poverty. New research published by the UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research warns that the economic fallout from the global pandemic could increase global poverty by as much as half a billion people, or 8% of the total human population. This would be the first time that poverty has increased globally in thirty years, since 1990.

More than 700 million people, or 10 per cent of the world population, still live in extreme poverty today, struggling to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. The majority of people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, the poverty rate in rural areas is 17.2 per cent—more than three times higher than in urban areas. 

For those who work, having a job does not guarantee a decent living. In fact, 8 per cent of employed workers and their families worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2018. One out of five children live in extreme poverty. Ensuring social protection for all children and other vulnerable groups is critical to reduce poverty.​ UN

Deforestation Free and Carbon Negative Palm Oil
A team of scientists from EPFL and Switzerland’s WSL research institute has studied the conversion of savannas into oil palm plantations as a deforestation-free way of growing these plantations. What’s more, if improved management practices are adopted at the plantation scale, then the net carbon balance could be enhanced and a great leap could be made towards reducing the environmental impact of palm oil.

Demand for palm oil – a cheap raw material used widely around the world – is huge, and growing. This crop serves as a livelihood for many small farmers in the tropics. But studies have shown that the way oil palm is currently cultivated plays a major role in deforestation, impacting biodiversity, creating social tensions and leaving a heavy carbon footprint.

To examine alternatives, Juan Carlos Quezada, when he was a PhD student at EPFL’s Laboratory of Ecological Systems (ECOS), along with scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), conducted an in-depth study as part of the Oil Palm Adaptive Landscapes project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and headed by ETH Zurich. The research team looked specifically at the conversion of former croplands and degraded savannas, which are prevalent in South America, into oil palm plantations. MirageNews

GLOBAL - ​Bringing transparency to the palm oil supply chain for sustainability
Palm oil has become an ingredient that is demonized in sustainability coverage, although it’s technically responsible for 1 percent of deforestation, according to a 2018 report. By comparison, beef and soy production drive more than two-thirds of habitat loss in Brazil. Between 2001 and 2015, cattle resulted in 111 million acres of deforestation, four times that of palm oil over the same period. And according to experts such as Chris Sayner — vice president of corporate sustainability at Croda International, a chemical company that supplies ingredients to big personal care brands including L’Oreal and Unilever — the alternatives, coconut oil and soya oil, produce lower yields and so are less efficient uses of land and resources. 

"It’s why the NGOs do support palm," said Sayner. "Because switching away from palm would send you to coconut or soya or a mix of different oils, all of which would demand more land and make the problem worse. None of them say move away from palm. What they say is source palm sustainably." GreenBiz

Biofuels - ​Only 7% of global crops is used for biofuels production, UFOP reveals
It has been revealed that around 7% from 1.4 billion ha of crops such as grain, oilseeds, protein, sugar and fibre plants, fruits, vegetables, nuts and others were grown worldwide went into biofuels production in 2020.
Biofuel production is mostly located in countries where there is already a surplus of feedstock (especially maize, soy and palm oil) and legally prescribed blending obligations.
According to UFOP, if the surplus were not used to produce biofuels, it would have to be placed on the global market, where it would weigh heavily on feedstock prices. The use in biofuel production reduces the production overhang, generates extra value added and reduces the need for foreign currency for imports of crude or fossil fuels. This is primarily a problem in poorer countries. Another advantage is the amount of high-quality protein feed that is generated in biofuel production, demand for which is steadily increasing.
The amount and quality of these protein feeds have a strong influence on feedstock prices. Consequently, they also determine the amount of land dedicated to growing the feedstocks.
In other words, biofuels are by no means the price drivers in the commodities markets.
If necessary, the feedstocks grown for biofuel production are primarily available for food supply. In the case of politically motivated extensification, the EU Commission is currently pursuing with its reduction strategy for fertilizers and plant protection products as part of the "green deal", this option for "buffering" food demand would be omitted.
BiofuelsInternational

EU - ​An EU trade policy for true change on the ground
If we want EU trade policy to become truly sustainable before the end of this legislature, the Commission and the Council need to step up their game, a group of MEPs write, presenting their New Year’s resolution to contribute to global fairness.

This opinion piece is co-signed by a group of members of the European Parliament (full list at the bottom) and published exclusively by EURACTIV. 

Starting with a positive note, one can say that trade policy – despite its technical nature – has never been as much in the spotlight. The COVID pandemic and the disruptions it has created in global supply chains, has further put it on the focus of –very legitimate – citizens’ concerns.

From higher awareness of the environmental impacts of some commodities to human rights (think of the Uyghurs’ situation), citizens from all over Europe have shown a high level of interest in global trade and its impact. We view this as a necessary and democratic step forward in trade discussions that should be taken into account by all EU institutions. 

Despite these developments, the Commission and the Council have not put their money where their mouth is. EURACTIV

Italy - ​Interview with Vannia Gava, Italy’s Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Ecological Transition
Vannia Gava, Italy’s Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, spoke with New Europe in an exclusive interview in Rome about the energy crisis in Europe, the Italian strategy for an energy mix, the role of renewable energies at the national level and the new approach that the Draghi government has regarding energy sector at the EU level.

New Europe (NE): Madame Undersecretary, Italy is developing an energy strategy that includes both nuclear energy and gas. What is your vision of the future for these two important fronts?

Vannia Gava (VG): We have to change the energy mix and think that every energy source is important. When I was previously speaking about an ecologic transition that can not be done in a minute, I stressed that it is a long process and as part of a so-called energy of transition, we also need 4th generation nuclear energy and gas. This fact was also recognized by the EU. As proof, this course of action will be included in the document on a taxonomy that will be released later this year. We won’t forget the importance of renewable energies.

On January 18, we launched the technical PNRR PNIEC Commission in our ministry. It was created with the task of carrying out environmental assessment procedures for a series of projects under the state’s jurisdiction. At the center of the activity is the energy question, including all of the renewable plants in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and in the 2030 Energy-Climate Plan.​ NewEurope

Canada’s largest renewable diesel plant will turn canola oil into fuel
In five years, Canada’s largest renewable diesel plant will be converting canola oil to renewable fuel, but some experts say this alternative is not the climate solution it is made out to be.Earlier this week, Federated Co-operatives Ltd., a large gas, food and agricultural supplies retailer, announced plans to build an estimated $2-billion renewable diesel fuel and canola-crushing plant in Regina in partnership with AGT Foods.
The project is part of the co-ops’ goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and was dubbed “a big win for the Saskatchewan economy, a win for workers, a win for families ... and a significant win for the environment” by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. But while renewable diesel is often championed as a transition fuel, some experts remain unconvinced it is the best choice to move away from fossil fuels.
Renewable diesel is made from crushing oil from plants, including canola, palms, peanuts, soybeans and sunflower seeds. It can also be produced from waste oils, including used cooking oil from restaurants, giving old french fry grease a new lease on life.

The terms biodiesel and renewable diesel are often used interchangeably. These two fuels produce roughly the same emissions, but renewable diesel is higher quality and can be used up to 100 per cent in vehicles and up to 50 per cent in airplanes, while biodiesel must be blended with regular diesel, said Stephanie Searle, the International Council on Clean Transportation’s (ICCT) fuels program lead. NationalObserver

INDIA SET TO SHIFT DIET TO SOFT OILS AS INDONESIA CURBS PALM OIL
MUMBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Indonesia's plan to limit palm oil exports that has driven prices to record highs is likely to make leading importer India shift to substitute soy and sunflower oils, potentially capping the market's rally, industry officials and analysts said.

India can also increase its palm oil shipments from Indonesia's rival supplier Malaysia, but it is unlikely to be able to meet the shortfall, the officials said.

Indonesia is drafting a plan to limit palm oil https://www.reuters.com/article/indonesia-palmoil/update-1-indonesia-gov... shipments to tame domestic cooking oil prices, a senior industry official said on Wednesday.

Typically Indonesia supplies 60% of India's palm oil imports, while Malaysia fulfills around 40%, and palm oil accounts for two-thirds of India's annual edible oil imports of 13 million to 15 million tonnes.

The news from Indonesia pushed palm oil prices to a record 5,228 ringgit ($1,248.63) a tonne on Thursday, but Indian industry officials said the rally could be tamed if India, the world's top edible oil importer, responds by reducing purchases.

There could be knock-on effects in other markets, however, including a boost to U.S. soyoil futures and sunflower oil prices in Black Sea region. Agriculture

EU - Environment. Non-forest ecosystems forgotten by the EU?
As the governments of EU countries and the European Parliament start to discuss the European Commission's bill against deforestation, a new WWF report underlines that the EU will miss the goal of effectively tackling biodiversity loss and climate change if it does not immediately include non-forest ecosystems in the new law.

The survey "Beyond and forests: reducing the EU impact on all natural systems", conducted by 3keel, provides clear evidence of the impact of EU consumption on nine ecoregions of the planet. Presented last November, the European Commission's proposal limits the scope of the new law to forests only, with the possibility of extending it to other natural ecosystems starting from the first revision of the law. But the failure to include non-forest ecosystems in the bill, the Association underlines, risks transferring the pressure and destruction caused by agricultural production and livestock from forests to savannahs, grasslands and peatlands.

Grasslands and savannas can hold twice the amount of carbon in tropical forests, and the destruction of peatlands is responsible for 5% of greenhouse gas emissions. The report reveals that a substantial part of the goods imported into the EU come from regions rich in biodiversity and important carbon sinks: more than half of the Brazilian Cerrado, the most biodiverse savannah in the world, has been cleared, mainly to make room for production. of soy and meat. In 2019, meat imports into the EU from Cerrado amounted to 26% of the total imported, and almost a fifth of the meat exported from the region. About 14% of Argentina's Chaco, a mosaic of grasslands and savannas, was converted to agriculture during the 2000s mainly for soybean production. In 2019, the EU imported around 24% of all soybeans exported from the region.​ EFANews

Liberia - Farmers Say Food Crisis is Looming from Climate Change
INYEA, Bong County – After two years of poor harvests the Sumo family was nervous this year. Rain had been unpredictable. The sun felt hotter. The soil on their five-hectare plot here was dry. They planted bitter ball, pumpkin, pepper, corn, okra and rice and followed the rules they had followed their whole lives as subsistence farmers.

But again their harvest was a disaster.

“The sun ray is not easy this year, it’s too much, even if you water the crops it can’t still make it,” Musu Sumo said. “The corn and pumpkin we planted in the rice, nothing came up. They all left short-short and died.”

To make up for the lost rain, the Sumos dug pit wells around the farms to bring water to the crops morning and evening. It was hard work, but even that was not enough. The rice they planted last year has gone long before the end of the season. Where once they would have 25 bags of rice from their harvest, this year they have just five. The family will be forced to buy rice.
FrontPageAfrica

Cameroon - Anglophone crisis: State firm Pamol shed 1,688 jobs in 2018-2020
(Business in Cameroon) - Between 2018 and 2020, the number of jobs offered by state-owned company Pamol Plantations Plc decreased by 1,688. In its 2020 report on the performance of state and parastatal firms, the Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public and Parastatal Enterprises (CTR) reveals that in 2020, only 380 people were still working for Pamol, way down from 2,068 in 2018.

The main cause for this huge job shedding is the security crisis in the South-West where the company is facing growing challenges at its oil palm plantations, the CTR report explains. It adds that Pamol was able to operate at 35% of its capacity in 2020 thanks to measures taken by the government to secure company facilities.

After this weak recovery in a context marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the company sold 2,578 tons of palm oil and 24.51 tons of palm kernel (mainly from the stocks accumulated due to the security crisis), the CTR points out. 
BusinessInCameroon

Indonesia - ​Why Indonesia Is Jolting Markets by Curbing Commodity Exports
(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia is the top exporter of coal for power stations and the biggest palm oil producer in the world. It also holds a quarter of all nickel reserves. So policy shifts in the Southeast Asian archipelago -- such as new restrictions on coal shipments or a proposed nickel export tax -- often reverberate across global commodities markets, roiling trading and pushing up prices for other countries that need the supplies. President Joko Widodo is nevertheless forging ahead with what’s known as resource nationalism, policies designed to get more benefit from the country’s natural riches for its 273 million people by restricting exports and encouraging more value-added processing at home. The going has been slow but there are signs the strategy is having an effect.

1. What’s in the spotlight now?  Coal and nickel. 

Copyright © BloombergQuint

Malaysia - ​NextGreen inks MoU to set 20 collection centres for palm oil waste
NEXTGREEN Global Bhd (NGGB) entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with three partners, to build and set up 20 centralised collection centres for more sustainable, efficient and cost-effective collection and disposed of oil palm waste.
The MoU signing is a strategic alliance between NGGB with Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corp (MGTC), national investment cooperative Koperasi Sahabat Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia Bhd (KOOP Sahabat), as well as Koperasi Perkhidmatan Setia Bhd (Kosetia).

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac), Tan Sri Noh Omar said the collection centres will serve as a onestop centre for the collection of palm waste that can be processed into materials for the production of tissue paper, animal feed, fertiliser and more at NGGB developed Green Technology Park in Pekan, Pahang, will start operating in mid-February this year.
“The involvement of MGTC under the agency of the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) which is mandated to address climate change towards environmental sustainability is seen as a catalyst for the success of the project.
TheMalaysiaReserve

Indonesia to require permits for palm oil exports- trade ministry
JAKARTA — The world’s top palm oil exporter Indonesia will require exporters of the vegetable oil to obtain export permits from the Trade Ministry for their shipments starting Jan. 24, ministry officials said on Tuesday.

Palm oil producers are also required to declare how much of their production has been supplied to domestic buyers to obtain export papers, Trade Ministry senior official Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana said, as the government ramps up efforts to control domestic cooking oil prices. (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe, Fransiska Nangoy, Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty)
FinancialPost

Peru - ​Ocho Sur: "Palm oil is Ucayali's main export product thanks to our investment" (Part 1)
PUCALLPA, UCAYALI, PERU, January 18, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In an interview with one of the main newspapers in Perú, Michael Spoor, CEO of Ocho Sur highlighted the economic relevance of the Company in the Ucayali region. Below the translation of part 1 of the interview:

Palm oil has displaced wood for the first time as the main generator of foreign exchange in Ucayali. To achieve this, Ocho Sur has invested US$ 150 million in the last five years. Few people realize this, but palm oil is present in many of the products we consume daily. Soaps, cosmetics, toothpaste, chocolates, cereals and even ice cream. All are made with palm oil, the most consumed vegetable fat in the world. One of the largest producers of this raw material in Peru is Ocho Sur, a company that has a positive impact on the economy of Ucayali, despite some critical voices. In this regard, we interviewed Michael Spoor, his CEO.

Ocho Sur operates in Ucayali, but oil palms are grown throughout the Amazon. Can you explain the size of the business you run?​ EINNEWS

Korea - ​POSCO International recommended corporate responsibility over Indonesia's palm oil biz
SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Tuesday recommended POSCO International Corp. exercise greater corporate social responsibility over its palm oil business in Indonesia following a complaint by civic groups about its alleged adverse impacts on the environment.

The Korean National Contact Point (KNCP) for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) made the call after several South Korean and Indonesian civic groups filed a complaint against the trading arm of steel giant POSCO, the National Pension Service and the Export-Import Bank of Korea in 2019.

They claimed that POSCO's operation of a palm oil farm in the Indonesian province of Papua caused deforestation and other environmental pollution that negatively affects local residents in violation of due diligence standards of the OECD guidelines.

After two years of deliberation and due procedures, the Korean office advised POSCO to continue consultations with local residents in the region over the matter and to actively exercise corporate responsibility in running the business down the road. Yonhap

India & China to Continue as Global Palm Oil Demand Drivers
Global palm oil demand drivers will be India and China again since these nations are expected to maintain their highest presence as the world’s leading palm oil importers. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook had estimated the global economic growth at 5.9% in 2021.

The agency expects the global economic outlook to continue in 2022, led by India and China and the leading palm oil importers would still be China and India – these two nations holding the largest population in the world.

China is the world's second-largest buyer of palm oil after India and imports about 6 - 7 million tonnes of this tropical commodity from Indonesia and Malaysia, every year. India's palm oil purchases rose 15% in the marketing year 2020-21 (November-October).

The SEA (Solvent Extractors Association) data showed that in 2020-21 palm oil's share of imports grew to 63% as soft oil imports fell to a five-year low of 4.81 million mt from 5.96 million mt in 2019-20. Imports grew in 2020-21 mainly because of the reopening of the HoReCa [Hotels, Restaurants, and Catering] sector coupled with a massive reduction in import duties and allowing import of RBD palm olein. Krishijagran

EU - ​Electric vehicles: Solution or a new hoax?
First it was coltan, the essential mineral for our mobile phones, computers, remote-controlled weapons… necessary for their functioning and yet 80% of this mineral compound is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in open-pit mines that are real concentration camps, where children and women are forced to work, enslaving thousands of people and where rapes, murders and the absence of human rights are present on a daily basis. Today the situation has not changed despite the fact that both the international community and the large multinationals know what is happening and are not providing solutions. Much has been written, much has been denounced, but everything remains the same. The suffering and blood of some for the blind benefit of others. Pressenza

EU - ​European Demand Is Threatening Key Ecosystems Around the World, the WWF Says
Consumption by the European Union threatens to devastate carbon-rich ecosystems that aren’t included in measures to address climate change and biodiversity loss outside the region’s borders, according to the WWF.
More than half of South America’s Cerrado, the world’s most biodiverse savannah, has been cleared largely as a result of soy and beef production, with the E.U. responsible for 19% of the region’s beef exports. Other ecosystems such as the Argentine Chaco, Sumatra’s peatland and the Cuvette Centrale in Democratic Republic of Congo similarly have been affected by the bloc’s demand for palm oil, timber and other commodities, the group said in a report released Tuesday. Time

Sri Lanka - ​Oil palm production could be a game-changer for Sri Lanka’s rural economy
In April 2021, the Sri Lankan Government took an unprecedented decision of banning palm oil imports and ordered the uprooting of oil palm trees to be replaced with rubber trees. The main reason cited was palm oil’s negative social and environmental impacts based on a contestable report prepared in 2018. After a few days of the order, the import of palm oil that costs Sri Lankan exchequer $ 88 million was reversed. However, the ban on oil palm cultivation continues. The policy of reversing palm oil imports was a prudent one that helped to manage the immediate crisis faced by the local food and confectionary industry. However, what is unintelligible is the decision of the Sri Lankan Government to persist with the ban on oil palm production. The decision becomes even more perplexing considering the rapid dwindling of foreign reserves of Sri Lanka with many import substitution strategies in place today. The situation is so grave that oil import dues owed to Iran to the tune of $ 251 million will be repaid by bartering tea produced in Sri Lanka. If the Sri Lankan tea producers could stand with the Government during a difficult time and help to save foreign exchange and repay its debt, given a chance, the oil palm producers could similarly earn back the foreign exchange in a few years. 

But first, let us get the myths and truths of oil palm sustainability out of the way. Emotions have strongly dominated the debate on palm oil. Radical criticism from activist NGOs does not back their positions with transparent scientific research data. Such one-dimensional campaigns motivate consumer opinion, influence policymaking, and pressure the relationships between producing and consuming countries. Unfortunately, like elsewhere in the world, the palm oil sector in Sri Lanka is a victim of a concerted campaign by different anti-palm oil lobbies and radical activists. FinancialTimesLK

Ghana - ​Benchmark Policy: Review the policy implementation, exempt oil palm — OPDAG
The Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG) has called on government to immediately reconsider its decision to indefinitely suspend the review of the 50 per cent benchmark reduction policy.

The Association said it heard the threats and false claims of the importers that consumers would face astronomical price increases after the review of the policy, which would bring hardship to Ghanaians.

A statement issued and signed by Mr Selorm Quame, the Executive Secretary, OPDAG, said such claims were false as the arithmetic did not prove so.

Goverment, through the Ghana Revenue Authority, announced an indefinite suspension of the review of the benchmark reduction policy with agitation from GUTA.

It said prices of good manufactured in Ghana would not see such price as had been portrayed by the Public Relations machinery of the importers to incite the people against this critical decision that faced the nation.

The statement said it was rather unfortunate and ironic for government to invest so much resources into the promotion of the ideals of industrialization of the Economy, only for government to mplement such a counter productive policy such as the 50 per cent benchmark reduction policy. ModernGhana

Indonesia plans B40 biodiesel road tests next month
JAKARTA, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Indonesia's energy ministry plans to begin road tests for a biodiesel programme using 40% palm based bio-content (B40) in February, a senior government official said on Monday.

The world's largest palm oil producer mandated that biodiesel sold in the country be blended with 30% of palm-based biodiesel to cut its energy imports and increase consumption of palm oil - the feedstock to the fuel.

The energy ministry plans to tests two types of B40 blending, one using 30% fatty acid methyl ether (FAME) and 10% distilled palm methyl ester (DPME), and another using 30% FAME and 10% palm based diesel known as green diesel.

"The use of B40 must be followed by quality improvement, of both biodiesel and diesel oil," said Dadan Kusdiana, the ministry's director-general of renewable energy. Nasdaq

Ghana - Poor working conditions for women 
Small-scale farmers have been cultivating palm oil in southern Ghana for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the growers’ processing methods typically have remained as crude as ever. This causes needless hardship to the workers – mainly women—who produce the oil.South Ghana’s tropical climate is good for growing palm trees. The palm fruit yields two types of products: oil from the outer part of the fruit, and kernel oil from the seed in the middle. Once the kernel has been separated from the outer part, and once the oil has been extracted from the kernel, the rest of the kernel is turned into “palm kernel cake”, which is used as cattle feed or fuel.
In contrast to south Ghana, northern Ghana’s hot, dry and rain-dependent climate is more suitable for raising livestock and crops such as maize and rice. Farmers in the north have suffered mightily from climate change, which has caused alternate flooding and drought. That has forced many people from the north, especially women, to seek jobs in southern Ghana. DandC

Global - Demand for Non Dairy Whipping Agents Market Driven by Shifting Consumer Perceptions and Growing Awareness
With evolving consumer preferences, the F&B industry is constantly witnessing a wave of dairy-free and vegan products over the recent past. In addition, rampant expansion of bakery and ice cream sectors continues to underscore a few highly impactful industry trends, of which non-dairy whipping agents constitutes an important one. Receiving a prominent push from the dramatically growing vegan dietary trend, the cumulatively increasing bakery consumption also continues to boost the revenue growth of non-dairy whipping agents market. In 2019, the global revenue of non-dairy whipping agents market is likely to surpass US$ 375 million, as indicated by a new study on the global non-dairy whipping agents market published by Persistence Market Research.

As palm oil constitutes one of the key ingredients used in the making of non-dairy whipping agents, the flourishing palm oil market scenario is directly stimulating the growth of non-dairy whipping agents. LakeshoreGazette

Indonesia - ​Graft believed rife in oil palm sector
Civil groups are calling for more transparency in the governance of the oil palm sector, saying that Indonesia could still maximize its revenue from the sector as research has calculated substantial potential state losses from the sector due to alleged tax evasion.

Transparency International Indonesia researcher Bellicia Angelica said that as oil palm continued to thrive as one of Indonesia’s top export commodities, the lack of integrated monitoring efforts by relevant stakeholders had left the sector vulnerable to corruption. “There is no integrated palm oil management design among different ministries, [government] institutions and local governments,” said Bellicia in a discussion on Tuesday. “This could make the oil palm [sector] a fertile ground for corruption, particularly in the process of obtaining business permits.”

This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Graft believed rife in oil palm sector". Click to read: 

Malaysia - Govt awaits new date for EU's alleged palm oil discrimination proceeding, says Zuraida
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is still waiting for the exact date for the dispute proceeding on the European Union's (EU) alleged discrimination against Malaysian palm oil scheduled in March this year, says Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin (pic).

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said her ministry is ready to present the facts relating to Malaysian palm oil which might not have been given attention by the European Union resulting in it making various allegations on the commodity.

"We will explain one by one on their accusations on Malaysian palm oil. We will provide the facts and examples of the policies and rules in the country," she told reporters after launching 'Mari Kenali Sawit' (Let's Get to Know Palm Oil) for school students in Ampang area, here on Saturday (Jan 15).

Zuraida stressed that the government would get the real justification on the allegations on Malaysian palm oil which the country considered as baseless and only based on one or two claims.

"They did not give us the opportunity to explain these allegations, and we will bring this matter to the hearing session later," she added. ​TheStarMY

German oil mills face 'critical' situation on rapeseed tightness
An acute shortage of rapeseed supply across Germany – Europe's top rapeseed producing country – has made securing feedstock difficult for oilseed millers and processors and threatens to derail the sector's profitability in the coming weeks, market sources have told Agricensus.

The situation comes after poor seasons in main producing regions slashed global production, with trade sources warning of demand destruction at current rapeseed oil prices, and estimating that the country needs to secure 1.4 million mt of feedstock supply to keep machines running. 

“German oil mills are in a critical situation because they are not getting the oilseed material needed for processing,” Stephan Arens, from German oilseed union UFOP, told Agricensus.

“Crushers are sold out (of oil), but they are struggling to get the tonnes needed for grinding,” a local trade source said to Agricensus.

It comes as rapeseed oil prices have reached multi-year high levels, further incentivising the grinding of oilseeds amid good crush margins. AgriCensus

Malaysia - ​Bursa Derivatives, MPOCC ink strategic partnership to advance sustainability adoption in palm oil industry
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 14): Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd and the Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council are planning to jointly promote sustainability and responsible practices among palm oil players across the supply chain under a mutually beneficial partnership.

The two parties inked a memorandum of understanding for that on Friday (Jan 14), which will see Bursa Derivatives and MPOCC commit to a framework of cooperation and collaboration in the areas of information exchange, including exploring opportunities to develop and promote sustainability-related initiatives in the palm oil industry.

As the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda gains prominence, it is critical that the local palm oil industry mainstreams the adoption of environmental-friendly practices and compliance with the Sustainability Audit Standards, said Bursa Malaysia Derivatives CEO Samuel Ho. TheEdgeMarkets

Unilever: Profit Vs. Sustainability
Terry Smith, an influential fund manager of a top-10 shareholder in Unilever (NYSE:UL), Fundsmith, blamed Unilever for 'losing the plot'. In his yearly shareholder letter to Fundsmith investors, he wrote the following:

Unilever seems to be laboring under the weight of management which is obsessed with publicly displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of focusing on the fundamentals of the business.

He mentioned the public quarrel about the move by Ben & Jerry's to not supply their products to the West Bank as an example of a questionable and unnecessary action. Also, he criticized Hellmann's 'mayonnaise with purpose'.

In this article, I will analyze the recent performance of Unilever compared with some of its peers and try to grasp whether it is likely that the focus on sustainability is leading to worse results for the company.
SeekingAlpha

Global firms fall short on forest protection vows: report
Global companies and financial institutions with the highest potential for curbing deforestation are largely failing to do so, undermining pledges to protect forests made at the COP26 climate summit in November, a report said Thursday.

One-in-three companies assessed had no forest commitments at all, and 72 percent addressed some but not all of the forest-related commodities in their supply chains.
Even those with commitments keyed to specific commodities—especially soy, beef and leather—"are failing to provide evidence of how they are implementing them", the report concluded.
Not one among the 350 companies passed muster on a comprehensive approach to human rights.
PhysOrg

Indonesia (PRESS RELEASE) - ​Musim Mas Leads in Palm Oil Sector at the Largest Sustainability & Environmental Awards in Indonesia: PROPER Awards 2021
MEDAN, Indonesia, January 12, 2022 /3BL Media/ - The Musim Mas Group (“the Group” or “Musim Mas”) achieved 11 Green PROPER Awards in 2021 – the highest number of PROPER Awards for a palm oil company, representing results that are “beyond the environmental compliance criteria.” The PROPER Awards are awarded by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in Indonesia (KLHK). The results were announced by General Director of Pollution and Environmental Damage Control, Sigit Relianto, and Chairman of the PROPER Advisory Council, Prof. Sudharto, P. Hadi, on Tuesday 28 December 2021.

The Group’s subsidiaries that obtained Green are PT Siringo-ringo, PT Bahana Nusa Interindo, PT Indomakmur Sawit Berjaya, PT Agrowiratama, PT Sinar Agro Raya, PT Musim Mas Batang Kulim, PT Musim Mas Pangkalan Lesung, PT Berkat Sawit Sejati, PT Sukajadi Sawit Mekar 1, PT Sukajadi Sawit Mekar 2, and PT Maju Aneka Sawit.   YahooFinance

Ghana - ​ADB Bank to make agribusiness core priority this year
The Board Chairman of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Limited, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyapong II, has reiterated the commitment of the bank to support the agribusiness sector to meaningfully contribute to the growth of the economy.
He said the decision forms part of the bank’s intention to focus more on its core mandate of agricultural financing to ensure food security and provide the needed jobs for the youth.
“We will continue to provide financial support to companies and industries, especially in the agribusiness sector to ensure food security and better economic growth,” he said.
The Board Chairman made these remarks when he led the management of the bank to the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC) in Kwae-Kade in the Eastern Region.
It was to enable the delegation to familiarise itself with the operations of the company.
More loans
Daasebre Agyapong said ADB would this year continue with its strategy of disbursing more loans to companies and individuals within the agribusiness value chain to further consolidate the positive contribution of the agricultural sector to the economy. BusinessGhana

Peru - Peruvian regions hit record high for exports
Exports from Peruvian regions reached a record high of US$36.727 billion between January and November 2021, an increase of 34% compared to the same period in 2020 and of 23% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) has reported.

According to Mincetur, 19 regions saw an increase in their exports of goods: Madre de Dios (108%), Ucayali (91%), Huancavelica (84%), Puno (62%), Apurimac (56%), Ica (53%), Loreto (49%), Arequipa (46%), Tacna (32%), Lambayeque (30%), Cusco (26%), Ancash (25%), San Martin (24%), La Libertad (22%), Ayacucho (21%), Moquegua (20%), Piura (19%), Tumbes (13%), and Amazonas (9%).

In the same period, six regions hit historical highs for exports: La Libertad (US$3.553 billion), Apurimac (US$2.970 billion), Puno (US$2.159 billion), Lambayeque (US$835 million), Ayacucho (US$747 million), and Ucayali (US$75 million).

Exports by macro-regions

Within the jungle macro-region (53%), all regions saw an increase in their exports: Madre de Dios, Ucayali and Loreto, due to higher sales of gold, palm oil, forest products, chestnuts, and oil; San Martin, due to higher sales of cacao and palm oil; and Amazonas, due to higher shipments of coffee and cacao.
Andina

India imports 422,383 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in December
NEW DELHI, Jan 12 — India imported 422,383 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in December 2021, about 67 per cent more than 252,005 tonnes recorded in November.

The imports comprised 399,583 tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO), 10,000 tonnes of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein, and 12,800 tonnes of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO), according to data from the trade group Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) on Wednesday.

India’s edible oil imports in December totalled more than 1.2 million tonnes, out of which 47 per cent constituted palm oil.

The government has cut import taxes on edible oil in recent months to curb rising retail prices.
​MalayMail

Indonesia - ​Cooking oil industry plays significant role in economy: Ministry
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The downstream industry of palm oil and crude palm oil (CPO) derivatives has contributed significantly to the national economy, Industry Ministry's Director General of Agro-Industry, Putu Juli Ardika, stated.

“The progress in the downstream of the palm oil industry has been very good. Currently, there are 168 types of downstream products from palm oil, while in 2011, there were only 54 types,” Ardika noted in a statement here on Tuesday.

In total, the exports of palm oil and its derivative products had reached 33.1 million tons per year, out of the total production of 53 million tons annually.

In 2021, the export volume ratio of CPO raw materials to downstream products will reach 9.27 percent as compared to 90.73 percent, while during the 2016-2020 period, the average ratio of exports of raw materials to downstream products reached around 20 percent as compared to 80 percent.​ AntaraNews

UK - ​Center for Sustainable Palm Oil Studies (CSPO) Collaborates with Leading French Parliamentary Publication to produce report on Sustainable Palm Oil
LONDON, Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A report, Sustainable Development Above All (Le Developpment Durable Avant Tout), was recently published in a landmark partnership between The Center for Sustainable Palm Oil Studies (CSPO) and Le Trombinoscope, France's premier parliamentary magazine read by policymakers in France, the EU.

Mon, January 10, 2022, 10:26 AM·2 min read
LONDON, Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A report, Sustainable Development Above All (Le Developpment Durable Avant Tout), was recently published in a landmark partnership between The Center for Sustainable Palm Oil Studies (CSPO) and Le Trombinoscope, France's premier parliamentary magazine read by policymakers in France, the EU.

Center for Sustainable Palm Oil Studies (CSPO) Collaborates with Leading French Parliamentary Publication to produce report on Sustainable Palm Oil
Center for Sustainable Palm Oil Studies (CSPO) Collaborates with Leading French Parliamentary Publication to produce report on Sustainable Palm Oil
The report includes expert commentaries from authors that include Head of the Thembekile-Mandela Foundation and granddaughter Nelson Mandela, Ndelika Mandela, former MEP, Paulo Casaca, Members of National Assemblies: Muhammad Magassy from Gambia and Jeremy Lissouba from Congo, Belgium's most influential 40-under-40 and founder sustainable streetwear brand KinArmat, Marium Harutyunyan, award winning investigative journalist, Nafeez Ahmed, and Editor of CSPO Watch, Robert Hii.
YahooFinance

Cambodia - ​Exports of crude palm oil soar 176% to 62K tonnes
Cambodia exported nearly 62,000 tonnes of crude palm oil in 2021, rising in excess of 176 per cent from a year earlier, worth more than $66 million, or at an average of over $1.06 per kilogramme, according to Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries data.

The commodity derives from the oil palm, also known by its botanical name Elaeis guineensis, a tropical plant cultivar which is said to have originated in the ancient rainforests of West Africa.

Ministry director-general for agriculture Ngin Chhay told The Post that overall international demand for Cambodian palm oil remained robust during the Covid-19 crisis, proving to be a major boon for top exporter Mong Reththy Group Co Ltd and Vietnamese-invested companies in the northeastern province of Mondulkiri.

“Palm oil exports were 62,000 tonnes in 2021, and based on prices specified in exporters’ invoices, one tonne came to an average of about $1,065, generating revenue of around $66 million,” he said. PhomPenhPost

EU - OPINION ​EU Must Stand Firm in Trade Stalemate to Level up Environmental Norms
Brazil has lashed out at European plans to ban certain kinds of agricultural imports—including beef, soy, palm oil and coffee—which were produced on deforested land, with Brasilia slamming the measures as “myopia” and “trade protectionism”. While it’s undeniable that European farmers are disadvantaged by being required to uphold European environmental codes which products imported from outside the bloc do not necessarily conform to, the EU’s actions aren’t borne out of mercenary isolationism but rather the need to ensure that the EU’s high standards on issues like environmental protection and animal welfare are reflected in the bloc’s trading partners.

These so-called “mirror clauses” and other associated trade measures are part of a broader pattern of policies aimed at bringing other nations into line with the EU’s commitments to uphold high environmental standards.

Seeing the forest for the trees

The regulation proposed by the EU, centred around the goal of imposing the same principles on third parties importing their products into the EU as member states must meet, would prohibit the import of half a dozen products cultivated on land that has been degraded or deforested since 2020. Given that those six commodities comprise almost a fifth (19%) of all imports into the bloc, it would represent quite a sea change for the market. Brazilian beef is likely to be particularly affected; as much as 40% of beef arriving into the EU comes from that country, while approximately half of Brazilian cattle has been linked to farms that practice deforestation.

Little wonder, then, that the Brazilian government is incensed at the prospect of such a rule coming into force. The country’s Foreign Minister branded it “myopic” and claimed it was a thinly veiled attempt for France, in particular, to promote its own interests over those of Brazil. Paris is certainly supportive of the proposed measures—the French agriculture minister has argued that the measures are designed to create “a level playing field with regard to what enters the European market” and prevent distortions of competition. As a result, enacting the regulation is one of the key priorities of the French presidency of the EU Council.

Indeed, given that destruction of the Brazilian part of the Amazon rainforest reached a 15-year high in July, Brasilia’s complaints are likely inspired less by legitimate complaints about EU protectionism and more about a fear that Brazil will miss out on lucrative exports.​  EuropeanViews

Indonesia - POLICY Minister details dataset of Indonesia’s revoked palm oil, forestry permits
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - The revocation of forestry, palm oil and mining permits involving huge concession areas, as announced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jan 6), is unprecedented in Indonesian history. This move is mainly targeted at providing more equitable access to communities, increasing land productivity and investment effectiveness, and strengthening governance in the granting of land-based permits.

The country's Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya emphasized the great importance of this step as part of efforts to reach the government's Forestry and Land Use (FoLU) net carbon sink target by 2030, as pointed out in two speeches delivered by President Widodo at the recently-held COP26 summit.

The dataset detailed by the minister relates to the revocation of 192 palm oil and forestry permits under the forestry authorities, covering an area of over 3.12 million hectares or almost 43 times the size of Singapore.

The dataset also confirms that virtually all of the revoked permits were granted during former President Yudhoyono's administration, including palm oil permits spanning an area of more than one million hectares across Papua and West Papua.

"The revocation of their permits does not eliminate the major obligations to which the companies concerned are legally bound," Minister Nurbaya cautioned (Jan 6).

137 palm oil permits

Minister Nurbaya pointed out the 1.7 million hectares of revoked palm oil permits, derived from the release of state forest areas and equal to nearly 25 times the size of Singapore, account for over 57% of the total revoked permit areas under her authority.

She added that 1.4 million hectares, or over 79% of the total palm oil permit areas revoked, are situated in the provinces of Papua, West Papua and Central Kalimantan, as shown in the following chart. ForestHints

Indonesia - Even world's top oil palm grower Indonesia is worried about prices
JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) - Indonesia, the world's top oil palm grower, is finding it is not immune to the impact of soaring prices as it plans to subsidise cooking oil sold locally.
The government will spend 3.6 trillion rupiah (S$340 million) of funds raised from palm oil export levy to temper cooking oil prices by paying for the price gap and scrapping tax on 1.2 billion litres of edible oil, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said at a press briefing on Wednesday (Jan 5).
Palm oil, the world's most consumed edible oil, surged to a record last October and posted a third straight year of gains. That added to concerns about global food inflation at a time when supply chains are hit by bad weather, Covid-19 disruptions and labour shortages.
Prices of crude palm oil climbed for a fourth day to RM5,037 a tonne on Wednesday and are expected to stay elevated in the first quarter.
Indonesia has sounded caution about inflation after a year of muted price gains. A market intervention to stabilise costs during Christmas and New Year has not stopped the surge in edible oil. TheStraitsTimes

Nigeria - ​Oil Palm Growers Frustrated By Govt Failed Promises ― Association Leader
The National President, Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria, Igwe Hilary Uche, has said that his members are frustrated and tired of unfulfilled promises of the government to assist them in oil palm production.

Uche said the future of oil palm production in Nigeria is vague following the government’s nonchalance towards supporting the subsector which he said can sustain the nation’s economy.

Meanwhile, in 2019, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, while meeting some state Governors in his office, said the Bank had committed N30 billion on oil palm production.

Emefiele said the fund was disbursed through deposit money banks to six oil palm companies to support their expansion programmes.

He said that about 40 applications from investors across the country for the cultivation of 126,694 hectares were being considered.
TribuneOnline

Malaysia to roll out 20pc biofuels mandate in 2022
`Malaysia will increase its on-road biodiesel blending mandate to 20pc (B20) in Sabah and peninsular Malaysia by the end of this year, delegates were told today at the annual Malaysian Palm Oil Council industry seminar.

Kuala Lumpur has already pushed back a nationwide rollout several times because of funding pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic and possibly as record-high crude palm oil (CPO) feedstock prices inflated the cost of subsidising the programme.

Bursa Malaysia-listed CPO futures dropped off towards the end of 2021 after the active third-month contract reached an all-time high of 5,081 ringgit/t ($1,210/t) on 20 October. But supply concerns among buyers following recent flooding across peninsular Malaysia drove an increase back over the 5,000 ringgit/t threshold by today's Singapore close.

The government is now working to upgrade infrastructure at 30-35 fuel depots before the B20 mandate can be launched, which will cost around 50mn ringgit in total.
​ArgusMedia

Africa - OPC Enters Into Memorandum of Understanding With PALMCI
(BUSINESS WIRE)--Organic Potash Corporation (“OPC” or the “Corporation”) OPC is pleased to announce a significant event, with respect to its operations in West Africa.

OPC through its subsidiary in West Africa, OPC Ivory Coast (OPCIC) Inc., has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding for a Cooperation Agreement (the “Agreement”) with PALMCI, a leader in the production of refined palm oil products, with the largest palm oil refining plant in Africa. PALMCI is a subsidiary company of the SIFCA Group, a major global player in several agro-industrial fields (for more information on this partner company, please see www.groupesifca.com). The Agreement opens up the possibility of producing a mix of food-grade potassium carbonate crystals (at 99% purity), potassium carbonate solution and organic sourced fertilisers using OPC’s licenced technology.

Following the successful testing and determination, the parties will review a potential investment decision to construct a first production unit on a PALMCI site in Ivory Coast. In parallel, OPC Ivory Coast will begin next year, preliminary pilot operations of the production of cocoa-based potassium carbonate and other products.​ BusinessWire

India - ​NE Region To Be Hub Of India's Growth, Manipur To Link With Southeast Nations: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that Manipur and the Northeastern region will be the hub of India's developmental mission and the under construction highways in the state would be linked with the southeast Asian countries to boost international trade.

The Prime Minister said that under the "Act East dream" ambitious projects on tourism and connectivity are being implemented with all seriousness while peace has been restored in the region. "Hundreds of militants of the Northeastern region have shunned the path of violence and joined the mainstream of development," Modi said, while addressing a public gathering at Hapta Kangjeibung ground in Imphal after inaugurating 13 projects and laying foundation stones of nine projects with a total investment of Rs 4,815 crore.​ AhmedabadMirror

India - ​Palm oil mission will increase income of farmers in Northeast: PM in Manipur
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 22 developmental projects worth over Rs 4,800 crores in Imphal, Manipur on January 04.
Speaking at the inaugural event, PM said, “Today, India is importing a huge amount of palm oil and spending thousands and crores of rupees on it. We want India to be Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Hence, we have come up with Rs 11,000 crore palm oil mission that will help increase the income of the farmers in the Northeast.”
“We should remember how the previous governments made Manipur a ‘blockade state’ and played politics to break the public unity. Efforts of double engine government made sure there's no fire of militancy and insecurity, but the light of peace and development,” the PM added.
​DeccanHerald

UK city bets on palm oil in the fight against deforestation | Palm oil
FFrom mince pies and cookies to lipstick and soap, palm oil grown on deforested land in Southeast Asia will have been hard to avoid this Christmas. Vegetable oil is found in almost half of all packaged goods in UK supermarkets. according to WWF.

But a growing number of towns and cities are trying to use only sustainable palm oil, helping orangutans, tigers, Sumatran rhinos, and many other threatened species.

Chester Zoo was very helpful. They gave us a list of all the places where you would find palm oil: in bread, cake mixes, baking products …

Jason Ellison, Chez Jules restaurant

Run by Chester in North West England, the world’s first sustainable palm oil city, restaurants, small businesses and art venues are joining forces to eradicate forms of vegetable oil linked to deforestation from their supply chains. A school dinner provider has even signed up in Chester, the first to be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Oxford, Plymouth and the town of Mochdre in North Wales are following Chester’s lead, and more are expected to follow.
TheSaxon

India - ​These Most Common Foods Are Damaging The Climate Severely!
Did you know your love for chocolates, avocados or meat delicacies are silently damaging the climate? This may sound absolutely bizarre to relate food and climate change, but this is the harsh reality that some foods and their extraction process is silently impacting and damaging the climate.

According to a recent report presented at the United Nations summit General Assembly warns that “human beings have only 11 years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change.” This is because “food production is responsible for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.”

Reducing carbon emission is not as easy as it sounds, but the change may begin from something as simple as tweaking the diet. Here’s a list of common foods that are harming the climate.
TimesOfIndia

India - Rs 20K crore under Kisan Samman Nidhi released, PM stresses on natural farming
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released the 10th instalment of over Rs 20,900 crore of financial benefit to over 10 crore farmers under the 'PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana'. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 per annum is provided to each eligible farmer family in three instalments. In a virtual programme wherein tens of hundreds of farmers joined in from across India, the Prime Minister also released over Rs 14 crore equity grants to 351 Farmers' Producer Companies (FPOs).

The formation and promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) Scheme in February 2020 is aimed at empowering farmers and provided for a budget of Rs 6,866 crore for the same till 2027-28.

The Prime Minister said the FPOs help the small farmers in five ways: Better bargaining power, increase to large scale trade, innovation, better risk management and making changes and bringing around changes according to the market demand.

"Our farmers are benefiting from the FPOs in organic, bamboo, honey etc production. But we still import a lot of things that are in demand in the country. For example edible oil which needs a lot of foreign exchange. With an aim to help the local farmers, we have embarked on the National Palm Oil Mission, which will not just make us 'atmanirbhar' but also help our farmers earn more," he said.
TheHansIndia

Nigeria - ​Agric Reforms: Edo to Launch Cluster Farm Initiatives to Boost Oil Palm Devt
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has said his government plans to launch the state’s Oil Palm Development initiative and Cluster Farm initiative, as part of ongoing reforms in the agricultural sector to grow the state’s economy and achieve food security.

The governor, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, said his administration is committed to stimulating economic prosperity and improving ease of doing business to continuously attract private capital to engender sustainable development.

Obaseki further said the government will, in 2022, sustain ongoing reforms and programmes across all sectors of the state, aimed at rebuilding the engine of government, creating economic opportunities for all citizens, and harnessing the potential of Edo’s culture and the creativity of its people.

According to him, “Motivated by the progress recorded with the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP), we will be launching the Oil Palm Development initiative and Cluster Farm initiative, in furtherance of our aim of anchoring our economic growth on commercial agriculture while sustaining food security.”
Noting that Edo, with the cultivation of 120,000 hectares, has the largest oil palm plantation under cultivation in the country, Obaseki added, “We have put under cultivation up to 250,000 hectares of land for oil palm under our ESOPP programme. Today, we are approaching about 120,000 hectares. We have about 70,000 and now about 45,000 hectares at the Orhionmwon-axis.” ThisDayLive