Vol. 6 (1) March 2006 – OPIEJ

Production and Price Forecast for Malaysian Palm Oil

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 05:03:37 +0000

In the oils and fats sector, Malaysia can always be associated with palm oil due to its being the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the commodity. Malaysia produces and exports most of its palm oil due to its small population size and receives quite substantial amount of revenues from this product to support its economy. Thus, in this respect, it is important for the country to monitor the commodity’s production as well as its price that can be used in a way to determine the country’s revenue or in various decision-making processes. It is the objective of this paper then to analyse them econometrically and finally to forecast them. The paper indicates that production of palm oil will increase at a decreasing rate in future due to limited availability of land. By 2020, production is expected to reach 22 million tonnes while in the short term, it will be about 15.9 million tonnes in 2006. Price of palm oil is expected to fluctuate as before but in the near future, strengthening its level by increasing gradually in 2006.

Competitiveness in Global Trade in Edible Oil : Emerging Trends and Pivotal Drivers

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 05:02:06 +0000

Away from classical theories of absolute and relative comparative advantage, modern agricultural industries are also experiencing a new paradigm for competitiveness. As producer countries attempt to appropriate more and more of added values, the framework for competitiveness shifts to newer grounds more in sync with the agricultural policies of the developed importing western world. Interventions through government policies, notwithstanding supposedly a multilateral trade regime, distort competitiveness in the market place. This is done by limiting market access through innovative non-tariff trade barriers and levying discriminatory tariffs mainly to protect and promote increased growth of domestic industries at the cost of the home consumers. This paper attempts to overview some of these developments affecting competitiveness of global trade in edible oils, in particular with respect to palm oil.

Oil Palm in Indonesian Socio-Economic Improvement – A Review of Options

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 05:01:04 +0000

The Indonesian Government has used oil palm as a tool of rural socioeconomic improvement, doing this through nucleus estates operated by estate companies and through assisting individual smallholdings. Over 900 000 ha of high yielding oil palm have been established in 2-3 ha settler blocks in nucleus estate plasma, and 250 000 ha have been planted on individual smallholdings. The initiatives have together raised the incomes of over 500 000 farmers, and may be judged successful market interventions which are far superior to laissez faire. Although the average economic and social performances of both initiatives have been reasonable, their outcomes have been variable. The nucleus estates have sometimes suffered from faulty management, bad community rapport and difficult land conversions, and from the mistakes of government agencies and settler cooperatives. They were discontinued in 2001, due to scarce finance. The assistance to individual smallholdings has always had short funding, limiting its scope. Both initiatives were commenced under the New Order, and face fresh challenges in the present era of democracy and otonomi daerah. The analysis of this paper nonetheless shows that these Indonesian interventions should be continued, albeit more capital being provided and their deficiencies being remedied. It denotes that the interventions compare well with official efforts in other countries, strengthening the general case for public action to assist poor rural dwellers.

Oil Palm : The Agricultural Producer of Food, Fibre and Fuel for Global Economy

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 04:58:43 +0000

Oil palm industry has expanded from just an agricultural producer of edible oils and fats to fibre (material) and fuel (energy) as well for the global economy. In producing food, fibre and fuel (the 3Fs), the industry has also identified the enlarged environmental consequences that will now be involved. Arising from this, the science and technology (S&T) for the 3Fs production now falls squarely on the research and development (R&D) undertaken on land-use and land-use cover changes from forestry (LULUCF) with inclusion of the two latter products. Besides the best practices implemented to enhance the economic, environmental and social requirements, any change in the land-use pattern is prioritized with the environmental consequences identified and minimized. The S&T development in itself is not enough and must be applied together with business. It is critical that sustainability and poverty reduction remain the guiding principles for efficient use of resources, harness of intellect, and channel knowledge to benefit the rural poor and marginalized. As more plantation companies develop the potential to produce the 3Fs, there will be greater realization that both the policy and infrastructure support from the government is important. This must be accompanied by higher participation in activities by all the stakeholders over the whole value supply chain that involve the companies, industry and nation at all three levels to strengthen agricultural development to realize this 3Fs objective. The benefits of this new 3Fs approach are three-fold: firstly, greater promotion of value-addition and accomplishment of accelerated growth of agro-businesses in the food, material (fibre) and energy (fuel) subsectors. Secondly, creating more jobs in the rural sector with greater security for a fair standard of living for the smallholders and their families. Thirdly, discourage migration of people to the urban areas as the rural populace is better able to face the challenges coming from the economic liberalization and globalization resulting from more job opportunities created by the plantations and emerging agro-businesses. A total of 10 recommendations for policy refinement to enhance the 3Fs objective are discussed. They are aimed at achieving food security, fibre and fuel production by focusing on developmental and environmental consequences; continuing sustainable agriculture to improve the economic, social and environmental impacts of the companies in managing the 3Fs objective thereby hastening rural development when these new agro-businesses start to benefit not only the welfare of the people living in and around the plantations but also along the whole value chain.