The Future of Palm-based Soap in Asia Pacific

The development of the oleochemical industry in Malaysia in early 1980s also marked the fast take-off of the soap making industry in this country. This was inevitable because soap is the most immediate downstream product and the most widely used body cleanser today since its production dated back to 2500 BC. In spite of the […]

Palm-based Surfactants Synergy in Soap Applications

The α-SME is an alternative anionic surfactant to linear alkyl benzene sulphonates (LAS), fatty alcohol sulphates (FAS) and (the now maligned) branched alkyl sulphates (BAS). Historically, LAS and BAS were the workhorse surfactants for many detergent formulations. But BAS has now been banned from use by many countries due to its low biodegradation quality, leaving […]

Trans Fatty Acids – Nutritional Considerations and Labelling: An Update and Implications for Palm Oil

Trans fatty acids are produced when oils and fats containing unsaturated fatty acids are hydrogenated in the presence of a catalyst. Hydrogenation primarily increases the melting range of the unsaturated fats and thereby enables their incorporation into many solid fat formulations. When an unsaturated fat or oil is fully hydrogenated, all the unsaturated fatty acids […]

Supply and Disappearance: A Review

Production of palm oil by Malaysia in the first nine months of 2002 reached 8.704 million tonnes and exceeded total production for the same period of the previous year that totalled 8.649 million tonnes by 55 000 t or by 0.63% (Table 1). Monthly movements in production for the first five months of 2002 indicated […]

Price Scenario of Selected Oils and Fats in 2002

Price performance of palm oil and its products had generally improved in 2002. Local crude palm oil (CPO), for instance, showed a significant price improvement by registering at RM 1165.50 t-1 in January and at RM 1626.50 t-1 in December 2002, thus averaging at RM 1353 t-1 for the whole year. This increasing price trend […]