Palm and coconut oil end firm on RI smog<\/p>\n
LONDON (Reuter): Palm and coconut oil closed firm on the
\nEuropean vegetable oil market on Thursday on concerns over the
\neffect of the smog covering large areas of Southeast Asia and El
\nNino.<\/p>\n
Crude palm oil cif Europe closed $10 to $5 up as bullish
\nsentiment in Europe on worries over possible tight palm oil
\nsupplies was reinforced by the limit up close on the Malaysian
\npalm futures owing to the weakness of the ringgit.<\/p>\n
The KLCE closed up the 50 ringgit limit and is expected to
\nhave an extended limit of 75 ringgit yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"I think we will see traders on the KLCE go for the 75 ringgit
\nlimit on Friday, so look out for some fireworks,\" said one
\nEuropean trader.<\/p>\n
Huge bush fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have blanketed large
\nareas of Southeast Asia in dense smog in recent weeks, leading to
\nworries over palm oil supplies.<\/p>\n
Traders said supplies could get tight if crushers are forced
\nto cut back or stop production in any general government clamp-
\ndown on industrial pollution in Malaysia or if staff were unable
\nto get to work.<\/p>\n
In the longer term the effect on the plantations where the
\nfruits need sun to ripen, will not be known for many months.<\/p>\n
Crude palm oil attracted most business with Nov trading at
\n$550, Dec at $552.50, Nov\/Dec at $555, Jan\/Mar at $550 and
\n$552.50, Apr\/Jun at $552.50 and $555 and Oct\/Dec 1998 at $550 a
\nton cif.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, forest fires in Indonesia have spread to rubber
\nand palm oil plantations and are likely to hit output, officials
\nand traders said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Agriculture Minister Sjarifuddin Baharsjah said 173 plantation
\nareas were reported to be on fire, 73 of which had actually made
\nreports to the ministry.<\/p>\n
\"Most of them are palm oil and rubber plantations. I think it
\nwill affect palm oil and rubber output,\" the minister said,
\nadding that the fire had hit palm oil plantations which were
\nalmost mature.<\/p>\n
He gave no further details, but said the fires had hit a total
\nof 79,169 hectares (around 195,600 acres) of plantation land on
\nSumatra and Sulawesi islands and in Kalimantan, the Indonesian
\npart of Borneo island.<\/p>\n
Some traders have attributed a recent rise in palm oil prices
\nto tight supply in the wake of an ongoing drought.<\/p>\n
Traders have said the drought sweeping the archipelago and
\nlinked to the El Nino weather pattern forming in the Pacific had
\njeopardized crops such as palm oil, cocoa, rubber and coffee.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has said crude palm oil production was projected to
\nrise to 5.2 million to 5.3 million tons in 1997, compared with
\n4.5 million tons last year.<\/p>\n
Nafis Daulay, chairman of the Association of Edible Oil
\nIndustries, said the impact of the El Nino phenomenon would be
\nfelt on the production of palm oil in early 1998.<\/p>\n
Daulay said local demand still could be met if there was no
\nrise in export, adding that a policy on export tax would be
\nuseful to curb the flow of oils outside Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Most traders were still concentrating on export because of the
\nweaker rupiah and a bullish overseas trend.<\/p>\n
Palm oil was quoted at 1,800 rupiah\/kg in Jakarta on Friday
\nagainst 1,770-75 on the previous day. Crude palm oil was quoted
\nat 1,525 rupiah\/kg in Medan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/palm-and-coconut-oil-end-firm-on-ri-smog-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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