MALAYSIA MULLS STEPS TO ADDRESS CPO PRICE SLIDE

KUCHING (Malaysia), Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will act to address the
slide in global crude palm oil (CPO) prices to ensure the sustainability of the
country'sn oil palm industry.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Peter Chin Fah Kui,
said Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would chair a meeting of
the Cabinet Committee on Competitiveness of Palm Oil Tuesday.

"One of the issues to be discussed is the slide in the CPO prices and the
steps to be taken to address the problem," he told reporters after opening the
Modipalm Continous Sterilisation forum in Kuching, the capital of East Malaysia
state of Sarawak Monday.

Chin said one of the possibilities being considered was to waive the excess
profix tax imposed on plantation companies.

"This is being considered by the goverment especially now that the CPO
price
is around RM,1650 which is below the threshold price of RM2,000 per tonne," he
said.

He said Malaysia would work closely with Indonesia on marketing, promoting
and supply programmes for palm oil.

"A working visit to Indonesia is in the pipeline to iron out the details
and
mechanisms of implementation," he said

On the high fertiliser prices, Chin said Deputy Prime Minister/Finance
Minister, Najib Tun Razak, will attend a meeting this week with the
manufacturers and producers of fertilisers.

"The meeting will find out the reasons for the high prices which had
affected the smallholders where some are forced to do away with fertilisers to
cut down their operation costs," he said.

Chin said with the global oil prices on downtrend, it was puzzling to see
the fertiliser prices not following suit.

-- BERNAMA