Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
China is the world’s most populous country with a population of over 1.3 billion. China consumed more than 32 million tonnes of oils and fats but produced only 22.8 million tonnes of oils and fats. The huge differences between production and consumption can only be met by imports. The country is now one of the […]
The volatility of oils and fats prices is a significant feature of the oils and fats sector. With no exception for the prices of palm products, the upswing and downswing of their prices imply that there are different factors affecting the prices at different times of the year. In 2009, speculation over the low production […]
The oils and fats sector has always exhibited a very common feature of volatility. This is true of the palm products for which the upswing and downswing of their prices imply that there are different factors affecting them at different times of the year. In 2009, speculations on the low production of palm oil in […]
Agriculture is an integral part of the African economy. For example, in South Africa, the most developed African country, besides the presence of huge mining and industrial sectors in the country, the agricultural sector plays an important role in the economy. The agricultural sector contributes up to 8% of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of […]
The oils and fats sector has been bullish for the past few years. The sector enjoyed continuous surging prices since 2006 until the middle of 2008. Analysts related this scenario to the movements of fossil fuel price in the world market which recorded a similar trend. The surge in fossil fuel prices is mainly due […]
Prices of oils and fats have been fluctuating in the past, with ups and downs in the global market. Figure 1 shows that they had been accelerating upward since 2006 up until June 2008 after which they plummeted towards end of the year. The uptrend movements were closely affected by the petroleum price which had […]
The oils and fats were characterized by the volatility of their prices which had moved in large magnitudes on the upswing and downswing within the short period of a year. While following the momentum of the swing, they were affected by several factors, among which were petroleum price and their use in biodiesel production. The […]
The prices of oils and fats were generally bullish from 2001 to 2004. However, except for cottonseed oil, they turned bearish in 2005. Price recovery in some of them is expected in 2006, as indicated by their higher prices in the first three-quarters of the year. Prices of olein, stearin and soyabean oil are expected […]
Prices of most oils and fats were generally bullish during the period of 2001 to 2004. They moved in tandem, forming a general up trend during the period. However, they were bearish the following year, then recovered in 2006. But this was not the case with cottonseed oil where price independently followed a different pattern […]
The prices of most of the oils and fats studied in this paper have improved quite markedly in the past few years. As indicated in Figure 1 and Table 1, the prices of soyabean oil, refined bleached deodorized (RBD) palm olein, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, RBD palm stearin and tallow increased gradually from 2001 […]