OPF to hold free seminar on commodity hedging seminar

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KUCHING: Crude palm oil, commonly referred as CPO, is one valuable and natural resource found in Malaysia.

The multi-functions of the palm oil, after processed from the fruit, range extensively from domestic consumption in edible oleins to the commercial greases in stearates.

As the crude oil prices fluctuated widely from a historical high US$147 per barrel in 2008 right to the bottom US$29 during financial crisis.

Henceforth back to above US$110 now, CPO has been following the trend of energy prices despite of its unique property as a non-corrosive agent.

Though CPO is never a fuel-based product, it has always been the major media topic in times of high crude prices, for the fact again of its versatile conversion into biomass energies.

As a secondary energy source, CPO has always proven to be in the limelight of speculators when the major crude instruments are overly-hedged by inflationary pressures around the world.

Today, Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of CPO.

Due to the blessings of our fertile soil and humid weather, nowhere on earth is a better place to cultivate this agricultural wealth with superb quality as in Malaysia.

By statistics, there are 4.5 million hectares of land used for growing local palm trees plantations and estimated 18 million tonnes of palm oil is produced annually in Malaysia, with an employment opportunity soaring to near 600,000 workers.

While the weakening of US dollar has pushed the global commodity prices to highs and many new highs, the interest of developing and research of making bio-fuels and bio-diesels has rekindled in many developed countries.

Beside this, spiralling demands from emerging markets have definitely put an upward throttle onto CPO prices to satisfy both human consumption as well as making commercial lubrications.

In the 2008 financial crisis, CPO prices plunged from RM4,486 per tonne to RM1,331 but now quickly reversed back to RM3,300.

Compared with the other major crude instruments, CPO prices are still relatively cheap now, but might soon jump up once the flight of funds move into this market.

Currently, there are other CPO futures market operating in Indonesia and US exchanges.

However, Malaysia is proud to have the largest liquidity and participation in our local exchange with an average daily volume estimated at 20,000 contracts or more during peak seasons.

Needless to say, many speculators have benefitted with huge monetary rewards from its surging prices over last two years.

On the other hand, universal growing demands and stoking inflation might have bitten sizable profits from the invoices of CPO producers and exporters unknowingly.

As most physical delivery is delivered over 90 days, the run-up prices will effectively incur potential losses to sellers.

On coming May 14, Oriental Pacific Futures Sdn Bhd (OPF) will host a free seminar in Kuching entitled ‘Shifting Your Risk in CPO Business Through Hedging’.

This is the first-time-ever that such event will be held in East Malaysia in collaboration with The Borneo Post as media sponsor.

The objectives of the seminar serve to educate the CPO producers and exporters on hedging against fluctuating risk and to maximise sales profits.

OPF is a licenced trading member of Bursa Malaysia that is eligible to facilitate e-trading or desk-dealing for their approved customers in Malaysia’s futures instruments including CPO futures.

This session will be structured as a special three-hour seminar to be conducted by the renowned financial trainer – Dar Wong, also the popular columnist in The Borneo Post.

In order to cater to the special needs of CPO traders and sellers in Malaysia industry, this seminar will entertain guests-by-invitations only.

Those who wish to register for attendance need to produce identity of company and personal designation.

The seminar will be held at the Auditorium in Crown Towers at Jalan Pending here.

For enquiries and registration, contact hotline 03-2162 3606 (Eunice, Jeremy and Jonathan), or logon to www.opf.com.my/posth.