- Reuters reported that Thailand’s PTT PCL will be selling its palm oil business in Indonesia for an undisclosed sum by June 2015.

- PTT PCL will be selling its 95% stake in PT Mitra Aneka Rezeki to PT Prasada Jaya Mulia. There were no details on PT Prasada Jaya Mulia.

- PTT PCL bought the 95% stake for US$14.7mil in February 2008. The Indonesian subsidiary has the licence to cultivate 14,000ha of oil palm in West Kalimantan.

- According to news reports, the European Union (EU) has begun enforcing legislation that will mandate the labelling of specific vegetable oils on food products. This means that consumers will know whether the products contain palm oil, canola or other vegetable oil.

- The legislation was passed in 2011 and it gave companies three years to comply. The deadline ended in mid-December 2014.

- Bloomberg reported China’s vice premier as indicating that the country’s Ministry of Agriculture has approved several types of corn with GMO traits including Syngenta’s MIR-162 GMO. This is positive for US corn exporters.

- This year, China had turned down several shipments of US corn as they were genetically modified. As a result, US farmers, Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill had sued Syngenta over the losses.

- Bloomberg also reported that Russia is taking steps to limit its grain shipments in the wake of the plunging ruble. This is resulting in surging wheat prices.

- The country is slowing down shipments by denying certificates that grain sellers and buyers need after sanitary inspections. The goal is to keep domestic food prices cheap.

- Finally, independent cargo surveyors reported that Malaysia’s palm oil shipments rose by 2.1% to 2.9% in the 15 days of December compared with the same period in November.

- EU bought 82.8% more palm oil while India’s imports climbed by 33%. China’s buying fell by 33.1% in the 15 days of December versus the same period in the previous month.

Source: AmeSecurities