Headline News on Palm Oil - August 2020

​Read curated news that impacts the palm oil industry globally.
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CSPO Watch News. Making it easy for you to follow the palm oil industry

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Nigeria - Ellah Lakes Plc, a Nigerian palm-oil producer, is meeting investors to raise $40 million to expand operations and meet increasing demand for the commodity after government restrictions on imports increased an existing supply gap.

The company, based in Edo State in the Southern region of Africa’s largest economy, is raising $35 million by offering shares and debt as well as another 2.1 billion naira ($5.4 million) in equity to fund oil palm plantations, seedlings and fertilizer, Chief Executive Officer Chuka Mordi said in virtual interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. The company is looking to cultivate 4,000 hectares of oil palm plantation by year-end from 2,300 currently, he said. Naija247news

India - Siddipet: The Union government has extended permission to take up the cultivation of Oil Palm in Siddipet district in over 50,000 acres. Since Siddipet project is getting multiple reservoirs under Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been underlining the importance of cultivating the crops that gives highest profits besides having better demand in the market. As the Ranganayaka Sagar, Anantha Sagar, Konda Pochamma Sagar have already been completed and the works of Mallanna Sagar, Gouravelli, and Gandhamalla reservoir were going at brisk pace, the district administration under the guidance of the Finance Minister T Harish Rao have sent a request to Centre seeking permission to take up cultivation of Oil Farm in Siddipet. TelanganaToday

Walmart - Walmart’s 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report describes progress in areas including emissions, waste reduction, and leadership diversity.

The report, which covers the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2020, does not discuss the social issues of COVID-19 and racial inequity which arose later in 2020. Following are highlights of how Walmart is addressing several key environmental, social and governance issues. ChainStoreAge

Indonesia - JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia has received an injection of cash from the United Nation’s Green Climate Fund to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle forest fires at a time when the country has had to scale back spending in the area due to coronavirus budget pressures.

The $103.8 million fund was granted under the REDD+ programme, a U.N.-backed forestry conservation scheme to tackle climate change, based on progress Indonesia made in 2014-2016, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said. TheJakartaPost

UK - Climate change: How the UK contributes to global deforestation
It's estimated that an area the size of the UK was used abroad every year between 2016 and 2018, to meet British demand for these natural materials.

People everywhere rely on things like these for everyday products and our need for them in the UK could be making climate change worse.

It's all to do with the trees cut down around the world to help make those products. Globally it's thought deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. BBC

UK - Fighting deforestation: UK plans new law to protect rainforests and clean up supply chains
26 Aug 2020 --- The UK is clamping down on deforestation within the supply chain under government plans to introduce a “world-leading” law to protect rainforests. Under new planned legislation, it would be illegal for larger businesses to use products that do not comply with local laws to protect natural areas and ecosystems. These companies would have to show that their products and supply lines are deforestation-free by revealing where commodities such as cocoa, soy and palm oil originate from. Failure to comply could result in fines. FoodIngredientsFirst

UK - Legislation launches move for greener supply chains
Businesses in the UK could be banned from using products from land which has been deforested illegally.

New legislation proposed by the Government would require businesses operating in the UK to operate due diligence on they supply chains.

And Unilever, who have a factory in Gloucester, is partnering with a US tech company in a bid to tackle deforestation and environmental threats in its supply chains.

According to the Government plans, businesses would be required to publish information on where key commodities such as cocoa, rubber, soy and palm oil came from. PunchLineGloucester

UK - UK companies face fines for illegal deforestation links under new law
UK businesses will face substantial fines if they cannot prove their supply chains are free from illegal deforestation, under new government plans.

The proposed law will require large companies to know the true origin of commodities such as palm oil, beef and cocoa, and ensure they were produced in accordance with local laws.

Defra has launched a six-week consultation to seek views from various stakeholders, including the law’s potential impact on businesses. The size of the fines will be decided at a later date.

Tesco put forward similar proposals earlier this month, calling on government to mandate supply chain due diligence. TheGrocer

Africa - The EU Is Fueling Hunger in Africa
​Unless the European Union urgently rethinks its protectionist trade policies – beginning with the Common Agricultural Policy – a sharp uptick in food insecurity will turn the COVID-19 crisis into a catastrophe.

The CAP subsidizes European farmers to the tune of €42 billion ($50 billion) annually, thereby giving them an unfair advantage in foreign markets, such as Africa. As a report released by the NGO network Coordination SUD last year showed, such subsidies, together with the abolition of market-regulation mechanisms (such as milk quotas), have strengthened EU producers’ ability to export agricultural products at low prices to markets in the Global South. ProjectSyndicate

China - Chinese biofuels producer Changyou Bioenergy is launching a 200,000 t/yr hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) plant in Hebei province.

Changyou, together with the government-backed Chinese academy of science's Qingdao institute, converted its coal tar hydrogenation plant to the new HVO unit. Trials were completed on 6 August using a new technology that made mass production of the second-generation biodiesel possible, the institute said. An additional 1mn t/yr of output is also planned, although no timeline was given for this, or for the full start-up of the initial 200,000 t/yr plant. ArgusMedia

Singapore - KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — Singapore emerged as the third-largest importer of Malaysian palm oil products in the Asean region in 2019 with an increase of 5.8 per cent in volume from 650,411 tonnes to 688,457 tonnes.


Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) chairman Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub said the MPOB was positive that Malaysia’s palm oil exports to neighbouring countries would continue to increase, as the economies get back on track following the Covid-19 pandemic. MalayMail

Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka’s oil palm industry has called for discussions after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said planting of palm oil trees will be stopped “immediately”, in the wake of claims made by some activists that the crop harmed the environment.

Under a cabinet decision taken during the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014, palm oil extent was to be expanded by 20,000 hectares. EconomyNext

Malaysia - Focus on UK-Malaysia trade to counter palm oil discrimination, says economist
​MANCHESTER (Aug 24): Malaysia can combat discrimination against its palm oil products by focusing on the UK-Malaysia trade deals. The timing is opportune as the UK is working on new post-Brexit agreements.

London-based leading Brexit economist Keith Boyfield asserted that Malaysia should take advantage of the fact that the UK has left the European Union (EU) and is now working on redefining its trade policies.

“This is where Malaysia should re-strategise, take advantage of Brexit and target the UK for exporting palm oil,” he said. TheEdgeMarkets

Indonesia - RCEP enters final phase, to be signed without India: Trade Ministry
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has entered the legal scrubbing phase and is expected to be signed soon without India, the Trade Ministry has said.

The participating countries now comprise the ASEAN member states, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

“The participating countries will keep the door open for India in case it decides to rejoin the trade deal in the future, because its participation will be important on political, economic and Asian solidarity fronts,” Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga said in a statement on Thursday. TheJakartaPost

Liberia - The rubber industry in Liberia has gotten so bad that some farmers are cutting down their rubber trees with hopes of producing palm oil instead
GBARNGA, Liberia (AP) — Christopher Reeves has farmed rubber for more than three decades in Liberia, selling his crop to the international tire-maker Firestone, which also operates the world’s largest rubber plantation here.

Now Reeves, 61, and thousands of others working in Liberia's once-thriving rubber industry have fallen victim to the global economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Even before the pandemic, Firestone had imposed a moratorium on purchasing rubber from small-scale independent farmers like Reeves. What most thought would be a month turned into nearly six, with the company citing COVID-19 precautions and an oversupply of rubber. Now the company plans to lay off hundreds who work at its plantation site. AJC

Nigeria - Monumental loss as Nigeria’s old farm estates remain in a shamble
The establishment of the settlements reportedly brought development to the regions, as revenues generated from there were used to build institutions that have continued to sustain the economy of the country.

But the story has changed. The farm estates are no more. Findings showed that in states where they still exist, land grabbers, encroachers among other unauthorised intruders, have taken over the estates, thus hindering agricultural initiatives for which they were set up.

During an assessment of the farm estates, The Guardian observed that the majority of them have been encroached, redundant and under-utilised, while the farm settlers have been disengaged, turning their contributions to the food security to a mere dream. The common question begging for answer is: TheGuardianNG

Nigeria - The Federal Government of Nigeria has enrolled over 15 million persons in the National Social Register (NSR) to fast track implementation of the Social Investment Programme.

Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development who  stated this during the presentation of food items donated to Nigeria by the ECOWAS Commission, on Saturday in Kano said: “It is worthy to state that at the onset of the pandemic, the National Social Register (NSR) contained data of over 2.6 million poor and vulnerable households, representing over 11 million individuals in the 34 States and the FCT. WorldStageGroup

Nigeria - CBN and Nigeria’s Drive Towards Food Security
Africa is expected to double its population from one to two billion by 2050. Populations in the developing world are also becoming increasingly urbanised, with 2.5 billion additional urban residents projected in Africa and Asia.

For Nigeria, a country of over 200 million people, and projected to be about 450 million in a few decades, the present Covid-19 pandemic has shown that dangers lie ahead if the country does not begin to depend largely on what it produces locally. ThisDayLive

India - NEW DELHI • Oilseed crushers in India have called on the government to increase import taxes on edible oils as part of proposals to make India self-reliant in the sector.

They proposed increasing the duty on crude palm oil from 37.5% to 50% and from 35% to 45% on soybean oil, sunflower oil and other soft oils.

India’s annual consumption is expected to rise from about 23 million tonnes to 27.8 million tonnes by 2025, according to the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA). Bernama

India - New Delhi: Edible oil industry body SEA on Thursday said it has urged the government to allow import of only crude palm oil and place all refined oils under the restricted category of trade. Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) - in a recent virtual meeting with Food Ministry Secretary Sudhansu Pandey on ways to boost domestic production and reduce import of edible oils - also requested the government to provide more incentive for export of groundnut. EconomicTimes

India - Hyderabad: Telangana State is one the potential States for oil palm cultivation in the country. An area of 18,932 hectares is covered so far under oil palm cultivated by 9,810 beneficiaries in 47 mandals of Khammam, Kothagudem, Nalgonda and Suryapet districts.

To identify the potential area in the State of Telangana, the Agri-Horticultural Society, Hyderabad was awarded with the project to take up study for preparation of feasibility report for oil palm cultivation in the State. Besides this, Ruchi Soya Industries has also conducted a feasibility study. Accordingly an area of 2.78 lakh hectares in 206 mandals of 18 districts have been identified that have potential for oil palm. TelanganaToday

Canada - EU ban on palm oil could be canola boon
The pending ban is being challenged by the main palm oil-producing nations and could get ‘watered down’
Opinions differ on whether the European Union’s pending ban on palm oil-based biodiesel represents a big market opportunity for Canadian canola exporters.
In January, the European Parliament voted to ban the use of palm oil biodiesel by 2030 because it leads to deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Palm oil biodiesel production will be capped at 2019 levels and then starting in 2023 it will gradually be phased out until it is eliminated in 2030. Producer

India - ​India Registers Highest Edible Oil Import in July 2020
With a surge in demand for edible oil after lockdown, India registers highest edible oil import in July 2020.

SEA Reports 13% Jump in Edible Oil Imports
Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) reported the highest increase in import of edible oil in July. The trade body noted a jump of 13 per cent in edible oil import to 15.17 lakh tonnes on a year-on-year basis. The Mumbai based association said that the increase would compensate for the low imports during April- May period. GrainmartIN

Indonesia - Indonesia may further increase palm oil export levies in future to support its ambitious biodiesel programme as the price of crude oil is expected to remain weak next year, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Indonesia collects levies from palm oil exports to fund the cost difference between fuel made from palm oil and fossil diesel fuel as incentives for producers.

However, a sharp drop in crude oil prices this year has widened the price difference between the two fuels. MarketScreener

Unilever -  Unilever is planning to use new geo-location technology to make its palm oil supply chains more transparent and tackle a farm-to-table traceability problem that has plagued the industry for decades.

The maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Dove soap will use cell phone geo-location data to track palm oil moving across thousands of supply chains and to achieve the elusive “first-mile” traceability. After a pilot test in Indonesia, Unilever is scaling up that approach to cover all palm facilities in Southeast Asia, including farms, refineries and processing plants, and is looking into whether the technology can be applied to other regions. Bloomberg

Malaysia - Pandemic forces Malaysian palm oil industry to rethink reliance on foreign labor
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's palm oil producers are embarking on a rare recruitment drive to hire locals and accelerating industry mechanisation as they grapple with a severe shortage of foreign labour due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As the September-November peak production season approaches, companies are erecting banners near plantations and posting online job advertisements boasting free housing, free water and other perks of estate life in a bid to lure workers to do everything from driving tractors to harvesting. NewYorkTimes

Malaysia - ​The negativities towards one of the most “powerful” commodities in the world intensified especially after a 2018 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stated that palm oil is damaging global biodiversity.

According to the report, wildlife including orangutans, gibbons and tigers are among the 193 species on the IUCN Red List (those facing risk of extinction) which have been affected by deforestation due to palm oil plantations. TheMalaysianReserve

Ghana - Solidaridad, an International Development Organization, through its Satellite for Business project, an interactive digital platform, is facilitating access to finance for smallholder cocoa and oil palm farmers.

The project is providing farmers’ credit scores to lending institutions to aid credit decisions.
The platform is also providing geobased data (the location of the farmer, farm size, and total yield)to financial service providers for easy contact. NewsGhana

Sri Lanka - Aug 17, 2020 (LBO) – Plantation companies will sustain a cumulative loss of more than Rs 500 million within months due to policy inconsistencies and vacillation by the government on a well-regulated expansion of Sri Lanka’s oil palm cultivation, the sector’s apex industry association has warned. LankaBusinessOnline

Nigeria - ​Niger state government is set to partner Indonesia in agriculture and mining sector.

The Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, stated this when he led a delegation comprising businessmen from the state on a visit to Indonesian Embassy in Abuja. BluePrintNG

Malaysia - TANJUNG MALIM, Aug 16 — Malaysia has returned to being on good terms with China and India since the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government took charge, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.He said the improved bilateral ties would help Malaysia increase palm oil and palm oil-based products exports to both countries, thus helping Felda settlers in the process.
“We will make use of the good ties to help increase our exports to India and China,” he told reporters after a meet-and-greet session with community leaders and Trolak Selatan Felda settlers here, today. MalayMail

Indonesia - Jakarta. Higher consumer demand for sustainable palm oil propels producers to pursue ecolabels, according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Production, or RSPO.

Palm oil production can be a double-edged sword, spurring economic growth while posing risks to the environment if not managed sustainably, RSPO's global community outreach and engagement senior manager Imam A. El Marzuq said. JakartaGlobe

India - NEW DELHI, Aug 14 — India bought 387,817 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia in July as the country’s edible oil imports improved.Its monthly import volumes grew to 1.51 million tonnes in July from 1.16 million tonnes in June, according data released today by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India.
India’s July palm oil imports were 824,078 tonnes, growing 46.4 per cent from the previous month, while palm oil’s share in edible oil imports was 54 per cent. MalayMail

India - India’s market size is a weapon waiting to be used. As is well known, the country happens to the world’s second-largest market for mobile phones, the third-largest currently for solar power equipment, the second-largest importer of arms, and the largest consumer base for such companies as Facebook and (until recently) TikTok. This power of the purchaser has rarely been used in the past by New Delhi. That is in part because its middle-class market wasn’t quite so big earlier; it is only the other day that India became the world’s fifth-largest economy. And in part because it is relatively recently that the world began to move away from rule-based multilateralism, thereby opening up space for tactical bilateral moves. ThePrint

Indonesia - JAKARTA • Indonesia must use the pandemic to reboot South-east Asia's biggest economy, including by improving food and energy security, as well as processing more natural resources at home, President Joko Widodo said yesterday.Mr Joko made the remarks in his annual state of the union speech to Parliament. Owing to coronavirus precautions, fewer than half of the lawmakers were present for his address, with the rest watching online. StraitsTimes

Malaysia - RED Gold is a popular expression among palm agro-communities as it refers to oil palm trees and the growers believe the tree is God's gift.

It all started with the first oil palm tree planting in a commercial farm near Tennamaram Estate, Batang Berjuntai (now Bestari Jaya) in 1917.

The palm oil industry continues to shape our life then, now and in the future as palm agro-commodity, involving upstream and downstream activities, helped Malaysia to become one of the largest palm oil producing countries in the world. NewStraitsTimes

Indonesia - Golden Agri Resources. ​Palm oil plantation owner Golden Agri-Resources plunged deeper into the red with a net loss of US$156.9 million for the first half of fiscal 2020 ended June, compared to a net loss of US$46.4 million for the year-ago period. BusinessTimesSG

Indonesia - First Resources. INDONESIAN palm oil producer First Resources posted a 47.8 per cent rise in net profit to US$43.2 million for the half year ended June 30, 2020, from S$29.3 million a year ago. BusinessTimesSG

Nepal - KATHMANDU/MUMBAI: Edible oil refiners in Nepal have all but stopped buying crude palm oil amid surging domestic stockpiles after top buyer India suspended most imports of refined oil from the country, industry officials told Reuters. EconomicTimes

Colombia/ UK - Launch of fully traceable sustainable palm oil takes KTC Edibles closer to 2022 commitment
KTC Edibles has launched a fully-traceable Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified palm oil as part of its sustainability programme. Bakery&Snacks

USA - BASF partners with The Estée Lauder Companies and Solidaridad to provide COVID-19 support to sustainable palm farmers in Indonesia
FLORHAM PARK, N.J., Aug. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BASF and The Estée Lauder Companies partnered with the civil society organization Solidaridad Network to provide COVID-19 hygiene kits to more than 1,000 smallholder farmers and their families in the Way Kanan District in Lampung, Indonesia.

Given out to approximately 3,000 people, the COVID-19 hygiene kits included face masks, soap, hand sanitizer and an information leaflet. Additionally, informative banners detailing COVID-19 preventative measures were placed in each of Way Kanan’s seven sub-districts. Farmers Association KTNA, Business Watch Indonesia and Farmer Group leaders helped safely distribute the kits via drop-off points and by going door-to-door to farmers. GlobeNewsWire

Wilmar - Wilmar International 2Q20 earnings more than double y-o-y to US$386.6 mil
For the 2Q20 ended June, Wilmar International recorded earnings of US$386.6 million ($530.8 million), 156.2% higher than the US$150.9 million a year ago.
Correspondingly, the group registered earnings of US$610.9 million for 1H20, up 49.8% from the US$407.9 million in 1H19.
The higher earnings came about on the back of improved contributions across all of the group’s core segments, particularly the feed and industrial products segment, which recorded a 104.9% y-o-y surge in profit to US$370.8 million for 1H20. TheEdgeMarkets

Malaysia - MPIC to ease condition in employer change application - Mohd Khairuddin
Meanwhile, Mohd Khairuddin said the government would help as a short term measure to resolve issues related to shortage of foreign labour through easing the condition in the application programme for change of employer.

“The new condition for this procedure provides affected employers unable to continue hiring foreign workers the flexibility to transfer all or some of their foreign workers to other companies that need manpower,” he said. TheSunDaily

Malaysia - PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Plantation Berhad has responded to a US-based human rights group’s claim that it failed to address issues of forced labour.

In a statement, Sime Darby said it has yet to receive full information on Liberty Shared’s allegations in its petition to the US authorities to ban the import of palm oil produced by the company over alleged child and forced labour on its plantations.

“In the absence of such crucial information, Sime Darby is unable to conduct a full and thorough investigation on the allegations,” it said. FreeMalaysiaToday

CPOPC - KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 5): The Secretariat of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) is asking American food company Kraft Heinz Company to withdraw its misguided negative campaign on palm oil and “palm oil-free” claims and discriminatory messages on the company’s products.

It said the company, a member of the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), should take into account the sensitivity of the debate on palm oil in palm oil-producing countries, and a far more balanced assessment of global sustainability and the environment. TheEdgeMarkets

Indonesia - The government has rekindled plans to escalate Indonesia’s biodiesel program after a five-month hiatus caused by weak palm oil prices and the unfolding global health crisis.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto recently ordered state-owned fuel giant Pertamina to revive the program a few days after the company produced an experimental batch of new biodiesel and signed a deal to build a biodiesel catalyst factory. TheJakartaPost

Indonesia - Jakarta (ANTARA) - National Plantation Holding, housing the National Plantation Corporation (PTPN) as its subsidiary, will channel its attention on key commodities -- palm oil and sugar -- to mark commitment to maintaining food independence of the country.

Chairman of the National Plantation Holding Abdul Ghani expounded that the company has in place a strategy to bolster the production of sugar and palm oil commodities by reducing plantation areas for other commodities, including rubber and tea. AntaraNews

India - A long-term policy is required to encourage oil palm cultivation in India as the country is currently dependent on imports, processors' body OPDPA said on Tuesday.

The Oil Palm Developers And Processors Association (OPDPA) said there is a huge scope for oil palm cultivation in North Eastern region, with Arunachal Pradesh and Assam alone having the potential to cover 200,000 hectares under oil palm. BusinessStandard

India - Palm oil imports by India probably surged 46% last month as a drop in stockpiles in the world’s biggest buyer prompted refiners and traders to boost purchases.

Inbound shipments rose to 823,000 tones from a month earlier in July as demand from the food services industry grew following the easing of lockdown rules, according to G.G. Patel, managing partner of GGN Research. That’s the highest since September and compares with 812,805 tons in July 2019. Bloomberg

Malaysia - THE Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) targets between RM65 billion to RM70 billion in export income for palm oil this year, as a result of the increase in demand.
MPIC Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said the Covid-19 pandemic has become some sort of catalyst for the industry to rise again, as the industry was given some leeway for operations during the Movement Control Order (MCO). TheMalaysianReserve

European Union - WTO agrees to Indonesia palm dispute panel
The World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement body (DSB) has agreed to Indonesia's second request to set up a panel examining the European Union's palm policies in biofuels.

Indonesia's first request was blocked at the DSB meeting on 29 June but was granted at the second time of asking last week. ArgusMedia

European Union - AUG 4, 2020. Panel to discuss Indonesian palm oil dispute with the EU
Indonesia had its second request for a panel to examine certain measures adopted by the EU affecting palm oil biofuels accepted.
Indonesia's first request was blocked at a dispute settlement meeting on 29 June. Indonesia said the measures in question not only unfairly discriminated against palm oil, but were inconsistent with provisions in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) goods, subsidies and technical barriers to trade agreements. BiofuelsNews

India - Expanding Oil Palm Plantations in the Northeast Could Exact a Long-Term Cost
​
New Delhi: Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to farmers in India’s northeast to cultivate oil palm, and to the eight state governments in the region to set up oil palm missions. While his call was prompted possibly by a deficit, environmentalists have expressed concerns about potentially unplanned expansion, especially considering both the Centre and state governments are yet to undertake any feasibility assessments. Science

AMERICAS: PETROBRAS LOOKING TO SELL BIODIESEL SUBSIDIARY
​Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) has announced that it has begun the non-binding phase for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível (PBIO).

Founded in 2008, PBIO is one of Brazil's largest producers of biodiesel in Brazil. The company has three biodiesel plants, which include: a facility in Montes Claros, in the state of Minas Gerais, with a production capacity of 167,000 cubic metres (cbm) a  year; a 304,000 cbm plant in Candeias, in the state of Bahia; and a mothballed 109,000 cbm unit in Quixadá, in the state of Ceará. Bunkerspot

Germany - The Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry said it has welcomed its government's increased political commitment to more sustainability in the palm oil sector. ConfectioneryNews

Malaysia - KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 4): More than 85% of Malaysia’s 5.9 million hectares (ha) of oil palm plantations and about 90% of 452 palm oil mills had obtained the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification as of July 30, 2020. TheEdgeMarkets

Nigeria - CBN partners Imo govt to boost oil palm production
To ensure economic diversification from oil to non-oil sectors, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has entered partnered with the Imo State government to boost palm oil and allied products through the state owned Adapalm Oil Company, Ohaji.

This was disclosed when a team from the bank, led by the Special Adviser to the CBN Governor on Agriculture, Anthony Ifechukwu, paid a visit to the General Manager of Adapalm, Dr Esom Goddy Obodo and members of the management staff. GuardianNG

Nigeria - Accessing CBN’s oil palm intervention funds is very difficult, says Ibru
With the focus on agriculture by the Federal Government and subsequent announcement of intervention funding for oil palm plantation backward integration by the CBN, is the sector receiving a boost with the funds?
The focus on agriculture by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the intervention funding initiatives are a welcome development no doubt. However, its impact so far on backward integration in the oil palm sector leaves a lot to be desired. GuardianNG

Denmark - A new report released by University of Copenhagen researchers indicates that Danish soybean and palm oil imports account for seven million tons of CO2 emissions annually.

By comparison, Danish agriculture’s combined CO2 emissions are 12 million tonnes annually. Deforestation-free imports, enhanced traceability and common EU policy can all contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions. TheCropSite

Malaysia - MPOC's BizMatch to connect European businesses with M'sian palm oil supply entities
The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has developed “BizMatch”, a new online match-making platform, connecting businesses from across Europe with Malaysian palm oil supply entities.

In an advertisement posted on the MPOC website, it said BizMatch is a one-stop centre for those who have decided to tackle adversity head-on and seize the opportunities that presented themselves despite or in some cases even because of COVID-19. Bernama

India - Government is taking measures to promote oil palm cultivation says Minister P Ajay Kumar
Kothagudem: The State government would extend all possible support to oil palm cultivation in the State, said Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar.

He also said that the government was taking all required measures for the promotion of oil palm cultivation by providing subsidies on the procurement of seeds, drip system, fertilisers and to help farmers earn profits. TheHansIndia

Korea/ Indonesia - ​POSCO International vows to enhance ESG standards
POSCO International has vowed to enhance its environment, social and governance (ESG) standards to become a more responsible corporate citizen, the company said Sunday.

The trading arm of POSCO Group said it released its latest sustainability report to showcase how its ESG efforts are gaining traction and how the company has been working on enhancing its sustainability performance.​ KoreaTimes

India - Edible oil industry divided over import policy
Pune: The Solvent Extractors Association (SEA), which represents the entire edible oil industry, has opposed the proposal of Soyabean Processors' Association (SOPA) to put quantitative restrictions on import of soyabean and sunflower oil.

SEA has claimed that putting quantitative restrictions will lead to flooding of the palm oil imports into the country. EconomicTimes

Italy - ​Italy's Saras eyes HVO, ethanol expansion at Sarroch
Italian refiner Saras is looking to boost production of biofuels, including hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), at its 300,000 b/d Sarroch unit on Sardinia.

Chief executive Dario Scaffardi said the refiner wants to increase co-processed HVO output at Sarroch from current levels of around 50,000-100,000 t/yr. ArgusMedia