• Bloomberg quoted Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Darrell Leiking as saying that the country’s automotive policy is expected to allow for a higher percentage of palm biodiesel in the next few decades. The government plans to include a “B20/30 ready” specification for vehicles in the policy. Malaysia plans to implement the B20 biodiesel policy in 2020F. Currently, Malaysia implements the B10 biodiesel policy in its transportation sector, which is estimated to absorb about 761,000 tonnes of palm oil annually. B7 would be implemented in the industrial sector in Malaysia in July 2019.

• Bloomberg also reported that the USA’s farm aid may create distortions and fail in its aim to influence US farmers’ planting decisions. To receive the US$16bil aid, farmers must be planting crops such as corn and soybeans. Some of the US farmers had planned to discontinue their planting plans after heavy rains and flooding in the Midwest. If the farm aid encourages US farmers to plant instead of delaying their plantings, this would increase production of corn and soybean and hurt prices.

• Apart from the African swine fever, which is currently affecting hogs, China is now facing an army worm invasion in some of its provinces. Bloomberg reported that the army worm disease is likely to spread through China’s corn areas in the north after being detected in 13 provinces in early May. The plant disease can affect the quality of crops such as corn, cotton, rice and soybean and reduce production. Army worms are caterpillar pests, which feed on leaves.

• Reuters quoted an RSPO official as saying that the RSPO is planning a separate standard for smallholders to help them adopt sustainable practices and receive certification. Details of the smallholder standards are still being discussed. Among the requirements that will be changed are those related to labour. The RSPO will also allow farmers to enjoy the benefits of certification in stages so that they can get RSPO benefits when their land ownership issues are resolved. So far, the RSPO has certified 2,919 independent smallholders with 7,272 hectares of oil palm, in Indonesia.

• Reuters reported that Brazil’s biosecurity agency, CTNBio has approved a new soybean seed that combines technologies to make it resistant to drought. Completion of the regulatory process will allow plantings and harvesting of the HB4 soybean varieties in Brazil althougha commercial launch for exports will require approvals from the importing countries.

Source: AmInvest Research - 3 Jun 2019