South Africa’s AFGRI Group Holdings (AGH) is creating a commodity/grain storage platform to expand the country’s current storage capacity from some 4.7M tonnes to 6M tonnes in the near future.

Surging biofuel demand from China and Europe has led to palm methyl ester (PME) exports from Indonesia and Malaysia climbing by more than 30% in the first quarter of this year, the Malaysian Reserve reported on 8 April.

Malaysia has set out a time-line for its millers and refiners to comply with expected European legislation on the carcinogenic process contaminant, 3–MCPDE.

The North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) and 80 other US trade organisations have asked the US Trade Representative (USTR) to exempt tariffs on European products shipped before 2 October.

Fires burning in Indonesia since July have destroyed over 800,000ha of rainforest, largely as a result of illegal slash-and-burn operations designed to clear land for agriculture – predominantly palm oil plantations, the Independent newspaper reports.

Finnish oil and renewable fuel producer Neste is launching a new marine fuel to help shipping companies comply with new low-sulphur global regulations coming into force on 1 January next year.

A US judge has said he would reduce an US$80M damage award against German chemicals group Bayer to US$50M or less, in a case where a jury ruled the company’s glyphosate weedkiller as a “substantial factor” in causing a man’s cancer, Reuters reported on 3 July.

Nigeria is planning to increase its palm oil production by 700% over the next eight years to improve its foreign exchange earnings, Bloomberg reported on 14 June.

Twelve of the world’s largest food companies have pledged to reduce trans fat in the global food supply, to align with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of phasing out industrially-produced trans-fats (iTFAs) by 2023.

The City of London has decided to ban junk food in adverts on its public transport system in efforts to tackle childhood obesity, Olive Oil Times reported on 20 March.

Used cooking oil (UCO) is being utilised in a maritime biofuel pilot project involving a group of Dutch multinationals and Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container ship and supply vessel operator.

Indonesia has asked India to cut its tariff on refined palm oil to 45% and has offered market access for Indian sugar in exchange, the Indonesian trade ministry said on 23 February.

The European Commission (EC) is urging the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to change its rules under which liquid effluents can be discharged from marine ‘scrubbers’ into the sea.