20111228 0925 Soy Oil & Palm Oil Related News.

ITS CPO export down 11.6% to 1,181,141 tonnes for the period of 1~25 Dec 2011.
SGS CPO export down 11.9% to 1,182,707 tonnes for the period of 1~25 Dec 2011.

Soybeans (Source: CME)
US soy futures climb to 6-week highs like others in the grain complex as traders grow increasingly nervous about hot, dry weather in South America. After a 3-day break, traders returned to work to find weekend rains were disappointing in Argentina and southern Brazil. Meanwhile, forecasts remain hot and dry, which is a growing threat to crops there. The market surged above its 50-day moving average in early action, which added to the upward momentum, traders say. Soy got added support from crude oil and fresh export sales to China. CBOT January soybeans end up 3.2% at $11.99 3/4 per bushel.

Soybean Meal/Oil (Source: CME)
March soyoil climbs 0.86c to 52.53c/pound and March soymeal rises $10.90 to $311.70/short ton.

Malaysian Palm Oil Output Seen Up In 2012 (Source: CME)
Palm oil output in Malaysia will increase only modestly in 2012 after a year of record crop yields, while rising crude-oil prices, and greater demand will lift benchmark prices, said Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, group managing director at Boustead Holdings Bhd. (2771.KU), Malaysia's fifth-largest listed plantation firm. Palm oil production in Malaysia, the world's No. 2 producer after Indonesia, could rise by 1 million metric tons to 19.3 million tons in 2012, Lodin said in a recent interview. The Malaysian government has forecast output to increase to 18.3 million tons in 2011 from 17 million tons in 2010, a 7.6% rise after two consecutive years of declines. "Better planting materials and improving estate practices will aid production [in 2011], although the rise [in 2012] will be tempered by palm trees' resting period after record yields in 2011," Lodin said.
Lodin's 2012 forecast is slightly more bullish than that of Dorab Mistry, a leading analyst who tipped Malaysia's 2012 crude palm oil output at 18.6 million to 19 million tons. Bad weather has been forecast for next year, and if it materializes it may combine with expected lower yields to help reverse the decline in palm oil prices seen this year. Prices are headed for a drop of 21% in 2011 due to higher production and worry over the health of the global economy. "Leading vegoil analysts [James] Fry and Mistry gave widely differing views on palm oil prices for the year ahead. But I think the market will hold up above MYR3,200 a ton next year because of the crude-oil factor," Lodin said. ICE Brent crude oil has traded above $100 a barrel for most of the year, making biofuels cheaper alternatives and raising demand for CPO.
"Should crude oil rise past $120 a barrel next year, more soyoil will be channeled toward biodiesel production, thus creating a vacuum in food production and that can be filled by palm," Lodin said. Lodin also said India and China, both top buyers of palm oil, will offset reduced demand from Europe as rising affluence in both countries has increased the demand for palm oil in food production. Mistry, who heads the trading desk at Indian conglomerate Godrej International, this month reiterated a forecast for CPO of MYR3,300/ton in January due to tighter supply. However, Fry, chairman at London-based agribusiness consultancy LMC International, this month said he expected CPO to fall toward MYR2,600/ton by June due to concern about global economic growth, with crude-oil prices weighing on vegetable oil prices. Boustead Holdings has an agriculture land bank of 97,648 hectares, of which 76% is planted with oil palms.
The company is expected to harvest around 1.1 million tons of fresh fruit bunches this year, Lodin said.

Wilmar Shelves China IPO Plan (Source: CME)
Wilmar International Ltd. has shelved plans for an initial public offering of shares in its Chinese unit and is buying back the shares it doesn't already own from entities linked to its founders. Wilmar International unit WCL Holdings Ltd. is buying the 1.61% interest in Wilmar China Ltd. it doesn't already own from the Kuok Group for HK$1.9 billion ($248.6 million), the world's biggest palm oil trader by volumes said in a statement to Singapore Exchange on Friday. The Kuoks, a Malaysian Chinese family whose assets include the Shangri-la chain of hotels and Hong Kong English-language newspaper the South China Morning Post, had paid the same amount when they purchased the 1.61% stake in Wilmar China in 2009. Nevertheless, the company's projected profit for 2011 is bigger than in 2009, Wilmar International said in the statement. The acquisition by the Kuok Group in 2009 was a "strategic investment" before the proposed IPO of Wilmar China on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Wilmar International aims to streamline ownership of the Chinese unit by buying back the shares, according to the statement. "Given it is an interested party transaction, we believe the price tag may not be relevant nor indicative of WCL's current intrinsic value...This move, however, does suggest that near-term spin-off of WCL would be unlikely," J.P. Morgan said in a note. Wilmar International's shares in Singapore were unchanged at S$5.03 at 0235 GMT after initially falling to as low as S$5.00. The benchmark Straits Times Index was down 0.2%. In a separate announcement Friday, Wilmar International said it agreed with its joint venture partners and the local government to abandon a proposed property project at Laobian in China. Wilmar International unit WCA Pte. Ltd. and units of Kerry Properties Ltd. (0683.HK) and Shangri-La Asia Ltd. have jointly asked the Yingkou city government to terminate their joint bid for the proposed project, the statement said.
The three companies are already working on a separate project in the same city located at Bayuquan, Yingkou city. A deposit of CNY271.6 million paid by the partners for their successful bid for the Laobian project will be repaid to the joint venture company, it said.

Palm oil slips on weak exports, weather eyed
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures dropped as moderating exports hurt sentiment, while a 6 percent rally last week gave traders an excuse to book profits as well.
"The market was overbought last week and now we have slowing exports and an unresolved euro zone debt crisis to consider," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in the Malaysian capital.

Light rain headed for dry south Brazil soy
BRASILIA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A cold front will bring badly-needed rain to Brazil's southernmost state and important soy producer Rio Grande do Sul, but volumes will be low and a longer-range forecast showed the region was in for more dry weather, forecaster Somar said Friday.
Parts of Brazil's No. 3 soy state would see 24 millimeters (0.95 inch) Friday to Saturday, raising the chances of the crop there germinating successfully and sprouting shoots. The state's soy is planted later than in many others.

Bunge eyes India expansion with 1,200 TPD edible oil refinery
MUMBAI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Agricultural processor Bunge Ltd  is planning to set up an edible oil refinery on India's western coast as it aims to expand in the world's top importer after buying a local firm last week, the head of its Indian unit told Reuters.
Bunge, the world's largest oilseed processor and among the top sugar and ethanol producers, last week said it had agreed to buy the edible oil business of Amrit Banaspati Company  for 2.21 billion rupees ($42 million).

PZ Cussons' Nigeria palm refinery starts work in Q3
LAGOS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Consumer product maker PZ Cussons  expects a $56 million palm oil refinery in partnership with Singapore's Wilmar International  to be operational by the third quarter of next year, the chief executive of Cussons' Nigerian unit said on Friday.
Christos Giannopoulos said the joint venture company PZ Wilmar will invest 100 billion naira ($612 million) in Africa's second biggest economy over the next 5-7 years to develop oil palm plantations that will feed the refinery and reduce import  bills.