[Kabar-indonesia] 5 RI Commodity Reports: Soybean; Corn; Palm Oil; Cocoa; Rubber
JoyoNews at aol.com
JoyoNews at aol.com
Wed Aug 2 18:29:45 MDT 2006
5 Reports:
- Interview:Indonesia Soybean, Corn Imports To Rise In 06
- Indonesia palm oil remain high on tight local supplies
- Indonesia Cocoa Production May Rise 20-25% By '07
- Indonesia Sulawesi H1 cocoa exports down 12.7 pct
- Asia Rubber-Tokyo futures up, physical market firm
Interview:Indonesia Soybean, Corn Imports To Rise In 06
By Prasenjit Bhattacharya
HANOI, August 2 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's soybean imports are expected
to rise 18% on year to around 1.3 million metric tons in 2006, from
1.1 million tons imported in 2005, a senior industry official told Dow
Jones Newswires.
"Soybean prices are quite encouraging in Indonesia, prompting an
increase in imports," said A.Ali Basry, country representative of the
U.S Grains Council in Indonesia.
Speaking on the sidelines of an industry gathering here, Basry said
the Indonesian government has estimated 2006 soybean output around
800,000 tons although industry expectations are "somewhat lower than
that."
Soybean is a marginal crop in Indonesia and sowing of the crop takes
place throughout the year, because soybean growers are scattered
around the large archipelago.
Despite the anticipated rise in soybean imports, soymeal imports this
year may be 1.4 million-1.5 million tons, little changed from 2005
levels, Basry said.
Indonesia's soymeal imports are mostly from India, which has emerged
as a major supplier of soymeal to Southeast Asia.
Corn Imports May Top 1 Mln MT This Year
Indonesia's feed corn imports may rise again in 2006 after slowing in
2005 following an excellent domestic crop.
Basry said corn imports are expected to be around 800,000 tons to 1
million tons in 2006 compared with around 500,000 tons in 2005.
Argentina is the biggest supplier of feed corn to Indonesia, followed
by China and other Southeast Asian countries.
The Association of Indonesian Poultry Producers has forecast that feed
corn demand in the country will rise to 5 million-5.5 million tons by
2010, from 3.6 million tons in 2005.
But Indonesia has plenty of land available to expand to its own corn
output in the coming years to meet rising domestic demand although a
substantial increase in acreage by 2007 looked unlikely, Basry said.
The food sector dominates corn demand in Indonesia with ethanol
production still limited and demand from this sector marginal, unlike
in several western countries where the biofuels sector has become a
major consumer of corn, he said.
Bird Flu Limits Feed Demand In General
Lackluster demand for feed grains, particularly soymeal this year is a
direct result of the widespread incidence of bird flu in the country
which ravaged poultry farms and led to the death of several people
over the past couple of years.
As the poultry sector reeled under the impact of the epidemic from
2003 to mid-2005, consumers stayed away from poultry products and
demand plummeted.
Basry, however, said poultry demand in Indonesia has recovered since
mid-2005, although demand probably is not back yet to pre-crisis
levels.
"I will say the purchasing power of people is a far more important
(factor) right now in buying (decisions) than any fear of avian
influenza," said Basry.
Indonesia was among the worst affected by bird flu, second only to
Vietnam. A total of 52 cases of human infections were reported in the
country, leading to 40 deaths.
While commercially-run integrated poultry farms in Indonesia seemed to
be improving their business performance, concerns still remained about
the ability of the vast backyard chicken farms to recover from the
impact of the epidemic.
Around 100 million birds are annually raised in Indonesia's commercial
farms. Another 175 million birds are raised in backyard farms in
villages and smaller towns, which have minimal security measures
against avian influenza.
But people in Indonesia are learning to deal with bird flu issues, he said.
The government has since introduced steps such as vaccination of
poultry, selective culling of chicken and compensation and credit to
smaller poultry farmers to help restore confidence in the sector.
Basry said Indonesia is confident of increasing its poultry output by
6% in the next 3-5 years, leading to a similar growth in the demand
for feed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Indonesia palm oil remain high on tight local supplies
JAKARTA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Indonesian palm oil prices rose on
Wednesday as dry weather squeezed local supplies and hampered
shipments amid softening Malaysia crude palm oil futures, traders
said.
Crude palm oil at local auctions in North Sumatra's Medan, the key
port for palm oil exports, rose to 4,373 ($0.48) and 4,375 rupiah a
kg, from 4,300 rupiah a kg on Tuesday.
At the state marketing centre's auction in Jakarta, crude palm oil was
traded at 4,355 rupiah a kg, up from 4,297 rupiah a kg on Tuesday.
Dry weather has lowered palm oil production and hampered palm oil
shipments from plantations to key ports in Sumatra and Java islands as
it reduces water level in rivers, traders said.
A rally in palm oil prices since last week has also spurred strong
demand, further squeezing local supplies.
"Supplies are still tight at the local market. But there are not too
many buyers showing up today as most of them have done trading in
previous days," said a trader in Medan.
In Jakarta, cooking oil was quoted at 5,000 rupiah a kg on Wednesday,
up from 4,875 rupiah a kg or by 2.6 percent on Tuesday due to problems
in crude palm oil shipments to Jakarta, said a trader in Jakarta.
Tight supplies supported local palm oil prices amid losses at the
Malaysian crude palm oil futures. Indonesian palm oil prices often
track Malaysian crude palm oil futures.
Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell by midday Wednesday on
profit-taking after the recent rally and prices of rival soyoil
dropped.
By the midday break, the benchmark third-month October <KPOV6>
contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives was down 17 ringgit, or one
percent, at 1,656 ringgit ($452) a tonne.
On the export front, sellers offered August shipment at $450, free on
board Belawan, with bids seen at $445 a tonne. No deals were reported
for the shipment.
Offers for September shipments were not available, but buyers bid
between $445 and $447.5 a tonne, free on board Belawan, without any
deals reported.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Indonesia Cocoa Production May Rise 20-25% By '07
August 2 (Dow Jones) -- A government scheme which - among other
initiatives - will provide loans to small-holders and larger private
estates should help revitalize flagging cocoa production in Indonesia,
Zulhefi Sikumbang, secretary general of the Indonesia Cocoa
Association, told Dow Jones.
The government would allocate around 2 trillion rupiah ($220 million)
to a "rehabilitation fund" to provide loans to the cocoa sector this
year, Sikumbang said.
The loans are intended to assist producers to rejuvenate aging cocoa
plantations by planting new trees. This will help improve per-hectare
productivity over a five-year timeframe, he said.
"Our target (is to be able to) produce minimum 1 ton per hectare," he
said. "That's after five years." The current national average output
is only 400-600 kilograms/ha.
The government would institute a flexible repayment scheme, Sikumbang said.
Repayments of the loans will be made at around 10.0% a year interest,
he said, and producers will be allocated an initial interest-free
period of about four to five years, to allow productivity and profit
levels to increase, before repayment commences.
But the projected 2006-07 increase in production is relatively small
in light of the program's longer-term potential, Sikumbang said.
"It's not really big, actually," he said. "(In) our estimation,
Indonesia can produce around 750,000 tons a year, in the next four
years," he said.
Sikumbang did not give details on when the government scheme was
likely to begin.
Previous Indonesia Cocoa Association estimates saw total cocoa
production between 450,000-500,000 tons in 2006-07.
Meanwhile, the most active cocoa future on the New York Board of Trade
was trading up at 0925 GMT.
The most-active September was trading at $1,498 a ton, after closing
at $1,487/ton yesterday. Second most-active December was trading at
$1,530/ton, unchanged from yesterday's close.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Indonesia Sulawesi H1 cocoa exports down 12.7 pct
JAKARTA, August 2 (Reuters) - Cocoa bean exports from Indonesia's main
growing area on Sulawesi island fell 12.7 percent in the first half of
the year from a year ago due to limited carry-over stocks, industry
data showed on Wednesday.
Exports in the January-June period fell to 71,040 tonnes from 81,407
tonnes last year, data from the Indonesian Cocoa Association showed.
But exports for June alone more than doubled to 47,302 tonnes from
21,375 tonnes from the same period last year.
Industry officials say erratic weather at the start of the year may
cut output from the main crop harvest that traditionally runs from
April to July.
The cocoa beans came mostly from South Sulawesi province and a small
amount from Southeast Sulawesi. The beans were sold via Makassar port
in South Sulawesi.
Cocoa beans from Sulawesi island may fall 10 percent this year from
around 200,000 tonnes last year because of wet weather.
Indonesia is the world's third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory
Coast and Ghana. Sulawesi accounts for 75 percent of the country's
total cocoa beans output.
Cocoa beans are sold to grinders for processing into butter and cake,
which is later pressed into powder for making chocolate, cakes,
beverages and ice cream.
Following are details of Sulawesi's cocoa beans exports:
2006 2005 Pct chg
(tonnes) (tonnes) (y/y)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
January 4,325.03 13,350.00 -67.60
February 6,446.75 10,045.00 -35.82
March 4,056.56 8,521.60 -52.40
April 7,434.99 22,240.81 -66.57
May 1,475.00 5,875.00 -74.89
June 47,301.87 21,375.00 121.30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 71,040.20 81,407.41 -12.73
Following are details on exports and destinations through Makassar port:
Exports H1 06 H1 05 June 06 June05
Destinations (tonnes) (tonnes) (tonnes) (tonnes)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
USA 28,526.56 25,751.60 21,100.00 6,800.00
Malaysia 16,973.64 27,605.81 3,941.87 5,525.00
Brazil 16,300.00 16,500.00 16,000.00 6,500.00
Canada 5,250.00 ~~~ 5,250.00 ~~~
Singapore 2,330.00 6,200.00 500.00 2,550.00
Thailand 600.00 1,700.00 300.00 ~~~
Belgium 485.00 ~~~ 110.00 ~~~
Cina 400.00 200.00 ~~~ ~~~
Germany 75.00 ~~~ 25.00 ~~~
Poland 50.00 ~~~ 50.00 ~~~
Netherland 25.00 ~~~ 25.00 ~~~
Spain 25.00 ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
United Kingdom ~~~ 3,000.00 ~~~ ~~~
Mexico ~~~ 450.00 ~~~ ~~~
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 71,040.20 81,407.41 47,301.87 21,375.00
------------------------------------------------------------------
Asia Rubber-Tokyo futures up, physical market firm
BANGKOK, August 2 (Reuters) - Tokyo rubber futures ended up on
Wednesday, driven mainly by higher crude and gold prices, but also by
a militant attack on a rubber warehouse in Thailand's rebellious
Muslim far south, dealers said.
The benckmark January 2007 contract <0#JRU:> on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange, which sets trends for global rubber prices, ended up 3.5 yen
per kg at 280.5 yen on Wednesday after trading between 279.3 yen and
283.3 yen.
"In the morning, TOCOM prices were higher following other commodities.
But in the afternoon, the news had some impact, pushing up the
market," a Japanese dealer in Tokyo said, referring to the attack on a
Thai rubber warehouse.
"The market was under selling pressure when touching 282 yen this
morning, but I am sure everyone knew about the news by noontime and
that helped push the market further up," another Japanese dealer said.
The market was expected to move between 280 and 290 yen on Thursday,
Japanese traders said.
The burning of the warehouse, owned by exporter Teck Bee Hang and used
by Japanese tyre-maker Bridgestone , destroyed between 100 and 500
tonnes of rubber sheet, a worker there said.
Although the adjacent factory, which produces STR20 block rubber for
the Japanese market, was untouched, the overnight arson attack was
likely to frighten tappers in a region producing 10 percent of
Thailand's rubber into staying home.
Dealers said the market feared it would put more pressure on already
tight supplies in Thailand, the world's top exporter of rubber.
"The quantity damaged is not that big, but it has a psychological
impact. Who knows what will happen by tomorrow or the day after," a
dealer said. "It could spread like a disease."
"People are worried if some rubber factories are affected then they
have to cover their short positions from the markets from Indonesia,
Malaysia or Singapore," another dealer said.
On Wednesday, Thai benchmark RSS3 rubber sheet for September shipment
was up $0.05 at $2.40 a kg, free-on-board.
Offers for tyre-grade Standard Thai Rubber, or STR20 block, for August
shipment were also up $0.05 at $2.40 a kg.
Thai 60-percent concentrated latex was offered at $1,550 a tonne,
free-on-board, in drums for September shipment. It was at $1,450 a
tonne, free-on-board, in bulk.
Indonesia's tyre grade SIR20 was up $0.05 at $2.30 a kg, free-on-board
for September shipment. Malaysian tyre-grade SMR20 was at $2.40.
Thai benchmark unsmoked rubber sheet grade 3, or USS3, the raw
material for export-grade rubber, was at 80.01 baht a kg ($2.11) on
Wednesday, up from 77.80 baht a kg on Tuesday.
The price of natural field latex, the raw material for Thai 60-percent
concentrated latex, was up 2 baht at 70 baht from Tuesday's 68 baht.
On the Shanghai futures exchange, the most active October contract
<0#SNR:> ended up 150 yuan at 23,680 yuan a tonne.
------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------
More information about the Kabar-Indonesia
mailing list