Search Results for: Indonesia

BY MARK ROWE

BOTH the oils and fats industry and environmentalists have long been aware of concerns over the oil palm, the prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man.

For almost as long, there have been campaigns to improve its cultivation in south-east Asia, which accounts for around 75% of global supply; but concern is now focussing on South America, where cultivation is growing rapidly, placing pressure on the Amazon rainforest and other wildlife-rich habitats in a belt stretching across central Brazil and Ecuador to Colombia’s Caribbean coast.…

BY MARK ROWE

SEQUENCING the human genome has brought widespread interest and the potential for treatment of diseases, but confectionery industry researchers are increasingly applying this technique to key components in the food chain. One of the most high-profile sequencing programmes gathers pace this year, as Mars continues the sequencing of the cocoa genome, a project it is working on with the US department of agriculture’s subtropical horticultural research substation and IBM.…

By Alan Osborn and Mitch Vandenborn, International News Services

BY ALAN OSBORN

While many had hoped December’s Copenhagen Conference would be the necessary first step in the global fight against climate change, in the wake of the signed partial accord, we are left with many more questions than answers. Now, 2010 is the new deadline for whether the world can agree a practical response to the dangers of global warming.…

BY MARK GODFREY

A SLUMP in exports dented China’s economic growth in 2008, but a strong recovery which lifted GDP growth to 10% in the second half of 2009 appears to have ensured strong retail sales across all fronts. That is why growth of cosmetics sales in China remained strong at 10% in 2009, according to the China Association of Fragrance Flavour and Cosmetic Industries (CAFFCI).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA and Ukraine appear to have headed off an oil transit dispute that could have created a repeat of last year’s major disruption of European natural gas supplies. Moscow and Kiev have signed an agreement increasing by 30% the fees Ukraine charges on transporting Russian oil to the European Union (EU) – this alters a 2004 contract and the change had sparked a diplomatic tussle.…

By Julian Ryall, in Tokyo  

International aid for emergencies comes in many forms, and necessity really can be the mother of invention amongst donors. Just ask the Japan-based World Instant Noodle Association: when disaster strikes - they send noodles.

And the world’s hungry and sick are happy that they do.

The association – whose acronym is WINA – draws donations from instant noodle producers and a disaster relief fund created by the late inventor of the instant noodle, Momofuku Ando, and former chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers’ Association.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, EMMA JACKSON and ERIC LYMAN

THE COPENHAGEN climate change conference ended on December 18 with an accord where key world economies promised to make binding agreements to cut carbon emissions. But detail on exactly how much will be settled at a later date, meaning its long term effects on the oil and gas industry are unclear.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

AS Indonesia’s economy continues to grow so too does demand for paint and coatings in the region. In 2008, the archipelago recorded a 6.1% increase in gross domestic product (GDP), moving from a GDP per capita of US$3,700 in 2007 to US$3,900 the following year (using purchasing power parity adjustments).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FIRST coalbed methane exploration well in Indonesia has been sunk by Canada’s CBM Asia Development Corporation. The company is assessing methane reserves in the Sekayu block of Indonesia’s south Sumatra basin, tapping coal seams with prolific shallow coal reserves from 600 feet to 2,750 feet.…