• Bloomberg reported that 62% of Malaysia’s oil palm plantations have obtained the country’s sustainable certification as at end-2019. About 3.64mil hectares out of 5.85mil hectares of oil palm plantations have been accredited with the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification. About 75% of palm oil mills in Malaysia have achieved the MSPO certification. The Malaysia government has said that it will take legal action or revoke the licences of mills and growers with plantation estates of more than 100 acres if they are not MSPO-certified on 1 January 2020.

• Bloomberg also said that China has eased customs clearance rules for soybeans for provinces on the north of the country. Chinese importers will be able to use one certificate for six shipments on 1 January 2020 instead of only one shipment previously. The new rule will apply to customs in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and northwest of Xinjiang. These checkpoints are along the borders of Russia and Kazakhstan. China has been increasing soybean imports from Russia as it seeks to diversify its supplies following its trade war with the US.

• Reuters cited China’s agriculture ministry as saying that it plans to issue biosafety certificates to a domestically grown and genetically modified (GM) soybean crop and two corn crops. China will grant the certificate to SHZD32-01 soybean developed by Shanghai Jiaotong University, provided there is no objection during a 15-day public opinion solicitation period. Industry players said that China’s move could mean that the country is ready to start commercialisation of some domestic GM crops.

• According to Reuters also, Bunge Ltd has ended its 13-year ownership in an Iowa ethanol plant, following struggles with thin margins and overproduction. Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy repurchased Bunge’s 25% stake in the plant on 31 December 2019. US ethanol producers said that the industry has suffered from the Trump administration’s waivers to exempt oil refiners from the blending of ethanol into gasoline. As of December 2019, about 13 plants had shut down since November 2018 while others have temporarily reduced production.

• Bloomberg reported that Indonesia plans to start B40 biodiesel road tests in April 2020. A recommendation on the blending formula will be available after the tests conclude in August 2020. A laboratory test will be concluded in two weeks’ time.

Source: AmInvest Research - 13 Jan 2020