KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Bernama) -- Golden Hope Plantations Bhd, which isin discussion with a big group in West Asia to form a partnership topenetrate the palm oil market in the region, expects it to be concluded asearly as before the end of the year.The partnership could be a joint venture or other forms of a win-winarrangement, said group chief executive, Datuk Sabri Ahmad.Countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran have large markets andconsume some one million tonnes of palm oil annually, he said at a pressconference after the completion ceremony of the RM2.6 billionrationalisation exercise between Golden Hope and Island & Peninsular Bhdhere today.Golden Hope is looking for opportunities overseas and apart from WestAsia, it is also eyeing Central Eastern European countries such as Ukraineand Russia and new members of the Europen Union such as Poland.Sabri said that the group already has presence in Holland, SouthAfrica, Vietnam, Bangladesh and China.He said that Golden Hope will continue to focus on its core competencyin the plantation sector, while at the same time moving further downsteam."Therefore, if there is a cyclical change in crude palm oil's prices,the group will be cushioned by the additional earnings on downstreamactivities. The company wants to go beyond just being a plantationcompany," he added.Sabri also stressed that the group will be spending money for brandingto raise the brand equity of its products, and said that comments bycertain parties that Golden Hope has no direct management of its foreignassets were inaccurate.The rationalisation exercise between Golden Hope and Island &Peninsular involved asset swapping, which saw Golden Hope disposing of 99percent of Golden Hope Properties Sdn Bhd, 60 percent of Golden HopeDevelopment Sdn Bhd and 100 percent of Golden Hope Properties (Johor) SdnBhd to Island & Peninsular.Island & Peninsular in turn, disposed of 99.6 percent of itsplantationarm, Austral Enterprsie Bhd, to Golden Hope.Earlier in his speech, Sabri said that the exercise has increasedGolden Hope's land bank to 188,093 hectares from 132,826 hectares.The total oil palm planted area will surge to 172,000 hectares from120,000 hectares and fresh fruit bunches's production is set to increaseto2.87 million tonnes from two million tonnes now, he said.Sabri said that crude palm oil production is envisaged to reach620,000tonnes. -- BERNAMA

11/02/2004 08:41 UKRAINE - According to market sources, a largeshipment of crude palm oil (about 40,000 tonnes) is expected to arrive inUkraine in the first half of November.

KORONADAL CITY, PHILIPPINES -- Agriculture officials in South Cotabatoprovince are bullish over the expansion projects initiated by KenramPhilippines for the planting of palm oil.

11/2/2004 - (Washington, D.C.) EPA awarded $660,000 to 66 student teamsfor the 2004-2005 academic year to research and develop sustainabledesigns through the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) competition.Sustainable development allows communities to grow economically whilepreserving natural resources for future generations. Students will designsolutions that both benefit the environment and are not prohibitivelyexpensive.

MOSCOW (November 03 2004): Russia plans to sign bilateral deals with fiveAsia-Pacific countries as part of its progress towards World TradeOrganisation (WTO) membership, Itar-Tass quoted Russia's top tradeofficial as saying on Tuesday. Recent talks with Thailand, Australia,Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were likely to result in deals at anAsia-Pacific Economic Cupertino (APEC) heads of government meetingscheduled for November 18-21, Maxim Medvedkov told Tass.

11/1/2004 EFE NEWS SERVICE - Brazil's soybean growers will suffer lossesof at least $1.5 billion in 2005 thanks to high production costs andfalling prices on the world market, the Agriculture and LivestockFederation forecast in a report released Thursday.

Jacobu (Ash), Oct 29, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Thursdayannounced that the Government had released 65 billion cedis to boost thePresident's Special Initiative (PSI) on Oil Palm production. He said theamount was to be used for land preparation for transplanting of oil palmseedlings nursed for the programme.

10/30/2004 - China and India, the world's two most populous nations, willsoon be potentially big markets for a wide range of commodities, likecotton, rice, coffee, cocoa, palm oil and rubber, which should translateinto a rare boon for the developing countries that produce them, says anew United Nations report.''Thailand expects its rice exports for this year to increase by onemillion tons, to nearly eight million tons because of strong Chinesedemand, earning revenues of US$2.4 billion compared to $1.9 billion lastyear,'' said the 20-page study from the UN department of economic andsocial affairs.The accelerating demand for rubber from China's fast developing automobileindustry has also created "a boom" for rubber industries in neighboringcountries. The east Asian giant is also set to overtake India as theworld's leading importer of vegetable oils and is expected to buy up to5.5 million tons of palm and soy bean oil in 2004, up from 4.2 milliontons in 2003.''India's share of world consumption of major commodities is relativelymodest,'' says the study, ''but China's rapid industrialization has led toit becoming a major market for most raw materials'', including copper,iron ore, lead and zinc.China and India have a combined population of 2.3 billion people, about37% of the world's population. A $100 increase in the per capita income ofthese two countries (representing a 10% rise in China and 20% for India)would translate into about $230 billion in additional demand forcommodities. ''Commodity prices increased considerably in 2003 and thefirst half of 2004, particularly for minerals, while prices ofagricultural products rose more slowly,'' the report added. Generaleconomic recovery and the rapidly increasing demand in Asia, particularlyChina, were the main reasons for the increases.The study, which will go before a UN committee at the current session ofthe General Assembly, scheduled to end in mid-December, says that over thelong term, increasing Chinese demand for vegetable oils, particularly palmoil, will benefit Malaysia, which accounts for half the global production,and Indonesia, another significant producer.According to figures released by the UN Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD), 95 of 141 developing countries are more than 50%dependent on commodity exports, including oil. For most sub-SaharanAfrican nations, the figure is 80%. ''This dependence makes most countriesparticularly vulnerable to commodity market fluctuations and is a realhandicap to economic development,'' UNCTAD said in a report released at aUN conference in S?0Œ0o Paulo, Brazil, last June.The world's 50 least developed countries (LDCs), "the poorest of thepoor", now depend heavily on commodities for their economic survival.Since 1997, the fall in prices of some commodities, including coffee,cotton and sugar, has been ''dramatic'', causing large economic losses andincreased poverty in several developing nations.According to UNCTAD, about 70% of the world's coffee supply is provided bysmallholders. Coffee growing supports about 40% of the rural labor forcein countries such as Nicaragua. ''Essentially, depressed coffee priceshave been caused by five consecutive years (1998-99 to 2002-03) in whichtotal coffee production has exceeded demand,'' UNCTAD said.Phil Bloomer, head of Oxfam's International Make Trade Fair Campaigns,says: ''Commodity dependence is the single-most important trade issue forthe world's poorest nations.'' The countries most affected by plummetingprices are in Africa. Burkina Faso and Mali depend on cotton, Ghana oncocoa and gold, Kenya and Malawi on tea and Ivory Coast on cocoa andcotton. Coffee accounts for 67% of the income of Ethiopia and 79% of thatof Burundi.But the study says African countries experienced a 10% annual increase inagricultural exports to China from 1995 to 2002. Anwarul Karim Chowdhury,UN under-secretary-general for the least developed countries, sayscommodities occupy a very important place in those nations' quest forequitable trading arrangements.The development efforts of most LDCs - 34 of which are from sub-SaharanAfrica - ''can only go forward if their primary commodities, whichtraditionally come from the agricultural sector, generate sufficientexport earnings and employment,'' Chowdhury told IPS. Besides increasingSouth-South trade, he said, the rising demand for commodities from Chinaand India would provide a much-needed stimulus for the world's developingand poorer nations.In order to assure fair commodity pricing and reduce their volatility, heargued, there is an urgent need to reach an effective agreement to allowLDC commodity exporters to compete on a level playing field with richernations. "Assuring LDC producers their fair share will not only benefittheir agricultural sectors by increased employment savings and reductionof poverty in rural areas, but will also allow the LDCs to reinvest anysurplus in necessary services and infrastructure," Chowdhury added.The UN study says the importance of the relationship between commodityproduction and both the incidence of poverty and the potential to reduceit is illustrated by the basic fact that more than two billion people inthe world are employed in commodity production - "and that the majority ofthem are poor".But the report strikes a positive note when it concludes, "The comingyears may see an unprecedented opportunity for developing countries toincrease exports of commodities, particularly to other developingcountries, as a result of favorable market conditions over the mediumterm, both for raw materials and for food commodities."

KUALA TERENGGANU, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Felda will develop about 20,000hectares of marginal land in its schemes which is unsuitable for oil palmand has been left idle for years.

Saturday October 30, 2004 - ALTHOUGH Kulim (M) Bhd recently joined theexclusive club of listed Malaysian plantation companies with more than100,000 ha of land each, it has yet to gain the kind of attention amonginvestors that the others do.