sp reacting to to RNS confirming funding available to develop their palm oil concession in Liberia.

starting to move up on steady volume.

up 16% so far today.

T1ps are tipping this.....took a punt on this .....if this turns into anything like a fraction of NBPO : it could rocket....but it is a punt...

rf from little seedlings mighty palm trees grow.....we hope!

Looks promising....just got to hope that the interest does not fade away from punters.....many of these small tips never get going except at the start but they have a large acreage it seems and finance sorted out so.....a steady climb to come now....medium risky stock... with a huge upside for the sp if the market likes it....

Palm oil rises in tandem with crude and we might see crude back into the eighties (dollar wise) soon.....perhaps the sp can hit 20p by christmas, perhaps sooner....

No....but somebody else might have....sp just ticked up again...I still don't know how to scan and upload....will have to learn....

delete

These have taken off today and i have banked some 40% profit

Perhaps too early ?.....sounds like me that.....

offer price has just gone up to 19p with bid at 18

I have been buying in over the last few days.......in blocks.....

Charging up......if this is anything like New Brit Palm Oil ...then we are in for a treat !.

Am up 60% now

Equatorial Palm Oil plc ('EPO' or 'the Company')
Interim Results

Equatorial Palm Oil plc, the AIM listed Liberian focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six month period ending 30 June 2010.

Highlight

Strong progress made in achieving objective of becoming a large scale West African producer of sustainable palm oil
Successfully admitted to AIM in February raising 6.5m
Reactivation of existing plantations and nurseries developed for new planting
Cornerstone investor secured - 5 million placing by BioPalm Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Conglomerate The Siva Group
5 tonne per hour palm oil mill instillation underway and on schedule - expected palm oil production in Q4 2010
Out grower programme being established to provide additional feedstock
Liberia continues to grow as a major new oil palm province where other operators include leading international palm oil companies Golden Agri-Resources Ltd and Sime Derby
Company has strong cash position and no debt to undertake activities
Post period MOU signed for a US$60 million joint venture, to accelerate the land development

Chairman's Statement

EPO has made significant strides since listing in February 2010 to become a large scale West African producer of sustainable palm oil, and with excellent progress made at our operations in Liberia, we are currently on schedule for production of crude palm oil ('CPO') by the end of 2010. Importantly, we have secured a cornerstone investor and recently announced the Company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ('MOU') to form a US$60 million joint venture ('JV') with Biopalm Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate the Siva Group, to accelerate the development of our land position.

We have a large land position of circa 169,000 hectares in Liberia, West Africa, which covers three areas; 34,398 ha at Palm Bay Oil Palm Plantation ('Palm Bay'), 54,549 ha at the Butaw Oil Palm Plantation ('Butaw') and 80,000 ha in the River Cess County ('River Cess'). Our land is close to deep water ports, an available labour force and established infrastructure suitable for the development of sustainable palm oil. EPO's development plan is to plant 50,000 hectares of oil palm over the next ten years producing at 250,000 tonnes per annum ('tpa'), doubling to 100,000 hectares of plantations in the longer term.

We have a strong management team in place, with extensive experience in large scale plantation development programmes such as ours. Peter Bayliss, our Managing Director, and Geoff Brown, Plantations Director, are leading oil palm developers, with Geoff Brown having occupied the roles of Managing Director of London Sumatra Indonesia and Chairman of New Britain Palm Oil Ltd.

The Palm Bay plantation has been the Company's main priority since listing. As we advance towards CPO production, our labour force of approximately 560 has been active in weeding and under brushing the target area and the reactivation of 3,000 hectares of oil palm plantation is nearing completion.

Installation of our first, and currently Liberia's only, commercial palm oil processing mill is underway following delivery in July 2010. When construction is complete, the mill will be a major boost for the Liberian palm oil industry, and we are excited about forthcoming production. The mill, with a throughput of five tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hour, was manufactured, and is being constructed on site by leading Malaysian producer of palm oil mills, Modipalm Engineering Sdn. Bhd. ('Modipalm'). Installation is progressing well, and although lengthy, it is not complex. Modipalm's specialised team of engineers will remain on site to train our mill operators to ensure that production of CPO is optimised. Initial revenues will be derived from sales into the domestic market and although relatively modest, the cash generated will increase to more significant levels as we develop further. The Company will also seek to buy fresh fruit bunches from out growers and small farm holders in the region to generate additional revenue.

Additionally, our new planting programme is underway with nurseries established at Palm Bay and Butaw. We are taking delivery of seedlings every month in line with our planting programme, having placed an initial order for 220,000 oil palm seeds from leading developer Unipalm.

As a member of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, we are committed to developing our plantations in a sustainable manner. The land under our control was previously logged and will not cause degradation to primary forest in Liberia.

Liberia has a high level of unemployment so the new jobs our venture is creating will have a positive social impact on the country. Additionally, our activities should provide the necessary incentive, opportunity and market for the out-growers in our areas, creating even more positive impact on the community, a position we would like to cultivate. In this vein we have also invested in facilities, such as schools and medical centres, to support and enhance life for our employees and the local community.

Liberia's investment outlook is encouraging with a notable influx of foreign investment across a diverse array of sectors including iron ore, oil and gas, rubber and oil palm. Liberia has an established agricultural sector, with Firestone Rubber operating in the country for over 80 years. Our early stage belief in Liberia as a new palm oil province has been strengthened by palm oil majors, Sime Darby and Golden Agri-Resources Ltd moving into the country primarily due to climatic conditions and to decreasing land availability in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Financial Overview

With a major roll-out strategy in place, we have focussed on ensuring our financial position is robust, particularly in comparison with a number of our peers. During the period, we successfully listed on AIM raising 6.5 million from a strong institutional shareholder base, which has been built upon since listing. We also developed a strong relationship with BioPalm Energy, part of the Siva Group, who have subscribed for 5.0 million of new Ordinary Shares in EPO in May 2010.

This relationship with the Siva Group has culminated in a legally non-binding memorandum of understanding ('MOU') agreement for a US$60 million Joint Venture, to accelerate the development of our plantations. Siva seeks to invest in growth opportunities and has identified the palm oil industry as having high expansion potential. Under the terms of the MOU, Biopalm Energy will invest an initial US$22.5 million in cash plus arrange and guarantee a US$30 million loan facility to the JV, while EPO will contribute US$7.5 million in cash to the JV which will, on completion, hold all of EPO's current land position in Liberia.

The Board believes the JV, which will be subject to shareholder approval, will place us in a strong financial position to develop at a faster pace, and we shall update shareholders on this in due course.

For the six months under review, the Group reported a loss of 1,451,000 (2009: 515,000), largely attributable to non recurring costs incurred for fundraising endeavours prior to listing in February 2010. At 30 June 2010, the Group had a cash position of 7,608,000 (2009: 5,000) and net assets of 15,830,000.

Outlook

EPO is operating in a highly exciting and expansive sector. We have an active roll-out programme and an experienced management team who have effectively laid solid foundations in preparation for our first production and sales of CPO.

Over the coming months the Directors expect a considerable amount of news flow as we continue to expand the Company's operations and nurseries and drive momentum in production. Land preparation and investment in our downstream infrastructure will be continuing and we look forward to updating shareholders accordingly as we build our position in Liberia.

We believe that EPO offers shareholders an exciting entry point into the palm oil sector and we are focussed on generating shareholder value. Our potential JV with the Siva Group provides us with a strong funding position and a supportive partner with synergistic objectives to advance the scale of our plantations quickly and responsibly. Siva has recognised the potential of our project, and our team's capability to realise it, and I look forward to working with them further in de-risking our project to crystallise value for shareholders.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team and our shareholders for their support over the period.


Michael Frayne
Chairman

Blue = PAL , Red = NBPO , Green = BIP , PALM = Black

Looks good to me...much ...much..more to come from this company.....could even be bought out....just the sort of company that could be...no debt plus cash in hand...

ald am still in for free!

Can you translate that Halifax.....?....sorry....

rf realised sufficient to cover my original outlay.

Shot up today....

mentioned in weekend press/ use of veg. oil has shot up by a stonking amount in a more affluent Asia

From what I understand : demand far outstrips supply !.

l see nothing gets past you RF .... :-) ....only joking mon ami ......ln buying PAL i broke my first rule of trading today in buying in the first hour of mkt esp. on a monday in buying into PAL and NYO ......but i see both as good solid plays

I see you took my advice regarding Palm oil " J "

I'm hoping for a rise past 30p by christmas.....one of the shares of the moment....that implies a 30% increase in value from now....might even do better...

l ALWAYS take your advice Roly . You must know that.. ;-) ln @ 19.5 ,,,article in FT showing the rise in useage of palm oil bodes well for this one dont you think ? ..agreed RF- great deal more upside than downside here ....

All blue this morning look's like it will carry on up after its small retrace.

increase in volume today but not much movement in the price.

Moving up again , might see it zoom past NBPO on the chart .topped up this morning

offer now 20p + 0.25

Doing nicely.....sp steadily climbing....

Investor subscription update

Further to the announcement of 26 August 2010 Equatorial Palm Oil plc, the AIM listed Liberian focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer, is pleased to announce that Andrew Milne has, under the Investor Subscription Letter (the 'ISL', as described in the Company's AIM Admission Document dated 26 February 2010), has subscribed for 2,000,000 new ordinary shares at a price of 17.5p per new ordinary share raising 350,000 for the Company.

The enlarged issued share capital of the Company following the issue of the 2,000,000 new ordinary shares will be 116,751,670 ordinary shares. Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and the Placing Shares are expected to commence trading on 14 October 2010.

20p bid now and I see NBPO is also up

21p.....at least this is rising....

Crumbs !....it's taking off...

We have lift off again , and profit taking.

NBPO having a better day then PAL

http://www.britishbulls.com/StockPage.asp?CompanyTicker=PAL&MarketTicker=Consumer%20Goods&TYP=S

Some big late trades yesterday now showing

Not in this at the moment having banked my profits....

Someone as paid 30,450 for 140,000 shares @ 21.75

http://www.epoil.co.uk/EPOPresentation030910.pdf

On the move up this morning

Oil has been shooting up....so palm oil follows...

485,000 buy after the close

tipped in T1PS today.

Summary paragraph as follows:-


'Brokers forecast their cashflows on the basis of a price of $750 a tonne for the oil. This is, as it happens, below the current market price and I do expect that price to increase materially during the current decade. But even on these low price models, the company should (via its 50% share of the JV) be generating at least GBP12 million free cashflow from 2016 onwards with that number increasing at a rate of 20% per annum as new trees come onstream. The sensitivity to a higher palm oil price is pretty massive so there is real upside in this regard.
So what is the end game? The company could, like other plantation companies, simply use its surplus cashflow to pay dividends. My guess is that Siva will seek to gain control and take its turn via a trade sale, but that is a way off. The question is what is EPO worth? Using the fairly conservative pricing assumptions, assuming all warrants and options are exercised then I arrive at a number of 45p per share. The house broker's model is 35-53p per share. However, I am not utterly convinced that Liberia will remain the happy multi-party democracy Hilary Clinton says that it will and as such my inclination is to apply a significant risk weighting to the stock. Having risen from my 12.5p tip through the 15p limit buy price, I currently rate this a hold for those already invested. However, considering the strong potential upside still available, for those not already in who accept the risk of investing in Liberia, I am happy to rate the shares a buy.'

Investors Chronicle had a short term target of 35p this week, can someone copy & paste it on here

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/palm-oil-may-top-rm3300-on-weather-concerns/

look's like punter's are switching from NBPO down 2% into PAL. Maybe the weather forecast is better were we are ? read link above.

The only problem with this is that it's not producing much....3 years before it does....a lot of planting going on....so it is essential to monitor the price of crude oil and palm oil....in a downturn : this would drop as well by perhaps a large percentage....

Lot's of sell's of NBPO

By Claire Leow
Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil climbed to the highest level
in more than two years, extending a 10-week rally, the longest
since June 2007.
The January-delivery contract on the Malaysia Derivatives
Exchange gained as much as 3.7 percent to 3,308 ringgit ($1,071)
a metric ton, the highest level in intraday trading since July
21, 2008.

Up to 22 - 23 offer this morning

PAL presenting this week in London.

Free City Seminar: Meet 4 CEOs live PLUS Tom Winnifrith on Silver
Wednesday 17th November from 6pm

Speakers include:
Tom Winnifrith, CEO of Rivington Street Holdings plc and Senior Fund Manager of the SF t1ps Smaller Companies Gold Fund
Pat Mahony, Director at Belmore Resources
Michael Frayne, Chairman of Equatorial Palm Oil
Dominic Wheatley, CEO of SocialGO plc
Rod Webster, CEO of Weatherly International plc

Complimentary drinks will follow after the event.
Places are strictly limited so to book a seat, please e-mail despina.dalopoulou@t1ps.com with your name, e-mail address and phone number. Or for more information, click here.

From NBPO report today.

World Crude Palm Oil ("CPO") prices have traded in a range between approximately USD 760 and USD 920/tonne for the first nine months of 2010 but have subsequently risen to current levels of approximately USD 1070/tonne.

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1043286/Liberian-palm-oil-producer-hands-brief-Pelham-Bell-Pottinger/

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles

/201012091828197128X.html

Equatorial Palm Oil

Legally Binding Joint-Venture signed with BioPalm Energy

http://theinquirer.com.lr/story.php?record_id=3362⊂=14

Just topped up @20.60 on very good new's


Equatorial Palm Oil



("EPO" or "Company")



Installation of Liberia's Only Commercial Palm Oil Mill





Equatorial Palm Oil plc (AIM: EPO) the Liberia, West African focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer, is pleased announce that the installation of the new oil mill (the "Mill") for the Palm Bay Plantation ("Palm Bay"), located 160km south east of Monrovia, is proceeding on schedule.



The Mill will be Liberia's only commercial palm oil processing mill following the successful commissioning by the end of December 2010. The Mill has been constructed on site by Modipalm Engineering Sdn. Bhd. ('Modipalm'), a leading Malaysian manufacturer of palm oil mills. Modipalm's engineers are currently carrying out production test runs on site and it is expected that commercial production of crude palm oil ("CPO") will commence in January 2011. The engineering team will remain on site to train EPO mill operators to ensure that production of CPO is optimised.



The Mill will have a throughput of five tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hour and is expected to produce approximately one tonne of CPO per hour once commercial production is established. CPO will be produced from existing rehabilitated areas owned by EPO, which holds a land position of circa 34,398 hectares at Palm Bay. The Mill will provide training and educational facilities for future crude oil mills that EPO is planning to build over the next five years in Liberia.



EPO has also agreed that if additional capacity is available, the Mill will produce CPO from fresh fruit bunches bought from out growers and small farm holders in the region. It is expected that the CPO produced will be sold domestically within Liberia.





Michael Frayne, Chairman of Equatorial Palm Oil, commented:



"We are extremely pleased to have the Mill built and in operation, having worked closely with Modipalm's specialist engineering team. We look forward to moving into commercial production in January 2011 and operating the only commercial palm oil mill in Liberia. EPO remains focused on becoming the leading CPO in West Africa and we will keep all our stakeholders fully informed of further developments."



Enquiries:



Equatorial Palm Oil plc

Company

Michael Frayne, Chairman

Up 16% so far today.

The unrest in the Ivory Coast may boost the Pam oil price , its one of its main export's

try cocoa!
the palm oil market is completely dominated by malaysia and indonesia which between them account for 83% of world production ..... however, i think i saw that there is a very nasty and incurable disease spreading in those regions which is killing off many palms and plantations .... for all that, PAL will still be a minute producer in a singularly unstable and corrupt country (unlike indonesia of course!)

I said it was ONE of its main export's. How much of that 83% is sustainable palm oil.? One company recently lost a big contract because it wasn't sustainable .

nothing can be described as sustainable when huge swathes of (rain)forest are destroyed to allow planting of more oil palms - as in Ivory Coast!

Cynic your beginning to sound like Fred.

" Equatorial Palm Oil plc (AIM: EPO) the Liberia, West African focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer "

in truth aldo, this company is rather too small for my liking, having a cap of barely 20m .... but does destroying rainforest for a plantation de facto mean that it is non-sustainable? ... an interesting philosophical question

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201012291201176617Y

Maybe a bid for PAL's land bank ?
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201012300700066881Y

From a poster on the iii website.

What got me going on this company was the future peer to peer comparison, its location to the EU, its sustainability and its enormous potential to expand its plantation. None of the other producers have as much land as PAL do. Theyve installed the mill and expect production in January, this along with the good news of the joint venture to double up production means a good 2011 on the cards.

These are looking cheap.

Should reach 30p this week

http://www.palmoilhq.com/

Good end of the week for PAL , update on production & the mill this month .

Most Palm oil co's are up today , PAL up 29 bid 30 offer

up again to day , we have overtaken NBPO , BIP as dipped and PALM is the fastest mover this week gaining on BIP.

Investor subscription update



Equatorial Palm Oil plc, the AIM listed Liberian focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer, is pleased to announce that Andrew Milne has, under the Investor Subscription Letter (the 'ISL', as described in the Company's AIM Admission Document dated 26 February 2010), has subscribed for an additional 2,020,000 new ordinary shares.



The enlarged issued share capital of the Company following the issue of the 2,020,000 new ordinary shares will be 120,405,099 ordinary shares. Application has been made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and the new ordinary shares are expected to commence trading on 24 January 2011.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/201101201506168373Z.html

Bought a few more @29.05

http://www.liberianobserver.com/node/10322

http://www.palmoilhq.com/

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201101311642294054A

26.25 +1.50 (+6.06%) live: 2:39PM GMT
Bid price 26.00 Open price 25.00
Ask price 26.25 Prev close 24.75
High price 26.46 Spread 0.95%
Low price 24.57 Volume 538,152

Up again this morning with good volume

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201102031704256691A

Equatorial Palm Oil JV with Indias Siva Group is now set up

Friday, February 04, 2011 by Andre Lamberti

In Liberia, EPO plans to develop 50,000 hectares in oil palm plantations within 10 years, and the strategic plan targets a 250,000 tonnes per annum crude palm oil operation

Equatorial Palm Oil PLC (LON:PAL) (EPO) said the joint venture agreement with Indian conglomerate, the Siva Group, has been fully implemented. The deal was initially flagged in September 2010.

The JV company has now received US$22.5 million in cash from Biopalm Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siva Ventures. EPO itself is investing US$7.5 million into the JV.

The deal also includes a US$30m loan facility to accelerate the development of EPOs palm oil operations in Liberia.

The 50:50 JV controls EPOs entire 169,000 hectare land position at Palm Bay, Butaw and River Cess in Liberia.

BioPalm is already the EPOs largest shareholder with a 29 percent stake in the company, after the Indian investor subscribed for 5 million in new equity (33.3m shares) back in May 2010.

In Liberia, EPO plans to develop 50,000 hectares in oil palm plantations within 10 years, the strategic plan targets a 250,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) crude palm oil (CPO) operation.

Initial CPO production is slated for Q4 2010, and the first palm oil processing mill is already under construction.

EPO joined the AIM market in February following a 6.5 million IPO. The company aim is to become a sustainable, low-cost producer of crude palm oil in Africa through the reactivation and development of existing plantations and its agricultural land bank in Liberia.

According to EPO, palm oil is the most important and widely produced edible oil in the world, and demand is projected to grow at 5-6 percent per annum over the next five years.

Palm oil is to food production what iron ore is to heavy industry.

It is an ingredient found in everything from Galaxy chocolate to Goodfellas pizza.

It even crops up in Persil soap powder. And in common with many basic minerals and hard commodities, demand for palm oil is buoyant and expanding all the time.

Liberia is a politically stable country and is becoming a fast growing investment destination for multi-national corporations, EPO said. Furthermore, the oil palm is indigenous to West Africa and cultivating it in this region avoids the adverse environmental impact the plant has on countries across Southeast Asia, where large areas are affected by a significantly lowered water table as a result of oil palm growing.

EPO believes the application of South-East Asian techniques and the latest seed genetics may enable Africa to become a key player in the world palm oil market again.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/25241/equatorial-palm-oil-jv-with-indias-siva-group-is-now-set-up--25241.html

2/11/2011

Indian bounce for EPO

Another pick from Shore Capital in the food sector is Liberia-focused palm oil developer Equatorial Palm Oil (PAL).
Analyst Phil Carroll draws attention to the joint venture agreement with Indian conglomerate Siva Group, which was approved by shareholders at the end of last year.

The agreement sees BioPalm, a subsidiary of Siva, provide $22.5 million in equity investment in return for a $7.5 million equity investment from EPO and its 169,000-hectare Liberian land position. EPO plans to use the cash to double its previous planting targets, with Shore enthusing that the outlook for the company is positive.

from iii article out today

We have written extensively on the progress being made on the joint venture agreement with BioPalm Energy, which provides for an equity investment in Palm Developments, the joint venture company, of which $7.5 million was due to come from PAL (via its Guernsey subsidiary) and $22.5 million from BioPalm Energy (which holds approximately 28.5% of the issued share capital of PAL).

Last week, the board announced the full implementation of the JV and that monies amounting to $22.5 million have been received from BioPalm Energy, which should help develop its c.169,000 hectare position at Palm Bay, Butaw and River Cess in Liberia.

We remain optimistic about the company's ability to make the most of the opportunity and look forward to operational updates in the near future.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/Article.aspx?id=201102141741242224B

two delayed trades 125,000 and 200,000 at mid price , i would say.

up 8.6% today

just read this on another bb , Palm oil price has hit a new high and there has been flooding in Malaysia. This could be why we have gone up while other Asian co's like NBPO have fallen back.

Equatorial Palm Oil plc ('EPO' or the 'Company')



Investor subscription update



Equatorial Palm Oil plc, the AIM listed Liberian focussed sustainable oil palm plantation developer, is pleased to announce that Andrew Milne has, under the Investor Subscription Letter (the 'ISL', as described in the Company's AIM Admission Document dated 26 February 2010), subscribed for an additional 400,000 new ordinary shares. Mr Milne has now completed the entire subscription of 6,857,143 shares at 17.5p to raise 1.2 million under the ISL. Mr Milne said, "As an active private investor, I am pleased to have completed my subscription for new shares in the Company which represents a substantial investment in EPO and this palm oil project."



Application has been made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and the new ordinary shares are expected to commence trading on 28 February 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWDIuNJ883s&feature=player_embedded

In Liberia, EPO plans to develop 50,000 hectares in oil palm plantations within 10 years, the strategic plan targets a 250,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) crude palm oil (CPO) operation.

According to EPO, palm oil is the most important and widely produced edible oil in the world, and demand is projected to grow at 5-6 percent per annum over the next five years.

Palm oil is to food production what iron ore is to heavy industry. It is an ingredient found in everything from Galaxy chocolate to Goodfellas pizza. It even crops up in Persil soap powder. And in common with many basic minerals and hard commodities, demand for palm oil is buoyant and expanding all the time.

Liberia is a politically stable country and is becoming a fast growing investment destination for multi-national corporations, EPO said. Furthermore, the oil palm is indigenous to West Africa and cultivating it in this region avoids the adverse environmental impact the plant has on countries across Southeast Asia, where large areas are affected by a significantly lowered water table as a result of oil palm growing.

EPO believes the application of South-East Asian techniques and the latest seed genetics may enable Africa to become a key player in the world palm oil market again.

Sime Darby eyes palm oil expansion in Africa - Plans for a 300,000 hectare plantation in
Cameroon FT article today.

Sime Darby eyes palm oil expansion in Africa

By Kevin Brown in Kuala Lumpur

Published: February 27 2011 20:17 | Last updated: February 27 2011 20:17

Sime Darby, the worlds biggest listed palm oil producer, is considering plans for a 300,000 hectare plantation in Cameroon as the industry rushes to expand in Africa in response to rising demand and near-record prices.

Mohd Bakke Salleh, Simes chief executive, said the M$7.5bn ($2.5bn) project was the Malaysian groups best prospect for expanding its 640,000ha land bank after a 220,000ha concession was granted in Liberia last year.

We are actively looking. We have been shown potential areas in Cameroon, and the development formula is to work with the local communities, he said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Bakke stressed that discussions had so far led to nothing conclusive, while the plantation would take many years to develop, with planting beginning at about 5,000ha a year and peaking at no more than 15,000ha.

Long-term demand for palm oil is rising as a result of population growth and changing dietary preferences in Asia, while supply is constrained by limits on plantation development in Malaysia and Indonesia, the two biggest producer nations.

Indonesia, which accounts for almost half the worlds palm oil production, implemented a two-year moratorium on commercial development of forests and peat lands in January as part of an effort to conserve the countrys remaining rainforests.

Mr Bakke said it was essential for Sime to find further land to defend its market leadership in the face of active prospecting in Africa by other big producers such as Singapore-based Wilmar International and Olam International. We cannot just sit back and do nothing, he said, noting that other plantation players were looking at potential projects in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Simes Liberia deal was part of a wave of proposed development projects by the industry last year, which included a $1.6bn agreement between Liberia and Golden Agri of Indonesia, and a 300,000ha joint venture in Gabon announced by Olam. Equatorial Palm Oil, a UK-listed palm oil developer, has 169,000ha in Liberia.

Palm oil, although down from the 28-month highs reached last year, was trading at about $1,100 a tonne last week. Before a 2008 spike in food prices that pushed the commodity above $1,000 a tonne, palm oil traded at an average price of about $500 a tonne in the preceding two decades.

Plantation groups do not expect significant local opposition to expansion in Africa, where governments are keen to create jobs and increase export revenues. Sime said its Liberian and Cameroon prospects could create 30,000 jobs each.

Sime also stressed that the land involved was agricultural or degraded forest, reflecting the impact of sustained campaigns against the industry by western environmental lobbying groups such as Greenpeace.

sia palm oil groups go back to future in Africa
By Kevin Brown
Published: March 1 2011 22:58 | Last updated: March 1 2011 22:58
Blackguarded by the green movement and devoid of pricing power, the palm oil business has one thing going for it: the sparkling prospects of the liquid gold it extracts from millions of squat green trees.
With demand soaring, the listed Asian plantation groups that dominate the sector are running out of land. And that is pushing them back to the industrys roots literally in a risky competition for space in equatorial Africa. If the gamble pays off, the rewards will be huge. If it doesnt, the planters could lose their shirts.
For the moment, they are in a sweet spot. With crude palm oil trading this week in Kuala Lumpur at about M$3,500 ($1,150) a tonne, the plantation groups are making at least M$2,000 a tonne more than their costs of production.
That is translating into a big surge in profits. Singapore listed Golden Agri-Resources, Indonesias biggest palm oil producer, has just announced a 147 per cent rise in net profit to $1.4bn for 2010, despite being blacklisted last year by Unilever, Nestland Kraft Foods, the consumer products groups, following Greenpeace claims that it destroyed rainforest areas to plant oil palm trees. Golden Agri denies the claims.
Sime Darby, a Malaysian conglomerate that is the worlds biggest listed producer, last week disclosed a 104 per cent increase in second quarter net profit to M$877m, driven mainly by its palm oil operations.
The price of crude palm oil is currently more than double the long term average of about $500 a tonne, and it looks like staying high, for two reasons. The first is strong demand for edible oils, driven by rising exports to India and China, where prosperity is triggering dietary changes that are raising demand for processed foods. Many of these contain palm oil, including pastries, chocolate and ice-cream. No one sees that trend reversing.
The second driver is palm oils use as an energy source. This accounts for less than 10 per cent of production, but the link to crude oil helps to put a floor under palm prices, as does its role as a replacement for other vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, which are in greater demand as fuels.
Ken Arieff Wong, who researches the industry for Nomura in Kuala Lumpur, estimates that consumption rose by 5.2 per cent last year, while production was up 1 per cent. Consumption growth may fall a little this year, says Mr Wong, but all the experience of development points to a sustained long term increase in demand.
Supply, though, is sharply constrained. Malaysia, responsible for about 40 per cent of production, has very little plantable land left, for a mixture of reasons including infrastructure problems and restrictions on land use. Indonesia, which produces more than 45 per cent of global supplies, has plenty of land, but most of it is virgin forest which it has belatedly promised to maintain. A two-year moratorium on development implemented in January will not put an instant stop to planting, but is a clear sign that land is going to be harder to acquire in future.
Most of the big companies have land banks that will keep them going for a few years. Production can also be increased by raising yields: lifting the average annual yield of 4 tonnes of oil per hectare to the 6 tonnes produced by the best trees would make a big difference. Research is being conducted into genetic modifications that enthusiasts say could eventually raise yields to as much as 8 tonnes. But all that is far in the future, and plantations work on 25-year cycles the lifetime of the trees. So if the planters want to expand later, they have to start the process now.
Hence the focus on equatorial Africa, one of the few places in the world outside south-east Asia where the oil palm tree will grow. This is not surprising, since the Asian industry got its start by importing plants from Africa in the 1960s. Now the plant

PAL outperforming its peers , my guess is its because its not based in Asia.

Food price changes Q1 2010 to Q1 2011

Source: World Bank Development Prospects Group

Maize


74%

Wheat


69%

Palm oil


55%

Soybeans


36%

Beef


30%

Rice


-2%

Good intentions but bad PR , he should have stood up and showed the people the envelope and told them what the money was for.http://liberianobserver.com/content/new-oil-palm-company-admits-misstep

9 May 2011

Equatorial Palm Oil Plc

("EPO" or the "Company")



Inauguration of Liberia's first commercial Palm Oil Mill



and



First sales of Crude Palm Oil achieved



Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL), the AIM listed palm oil development company with operations in Liberia, is pleased to announce the inauguration of Liberia's first palm oil mill (the 'Mill') at its Palm Bay Estate in Grand Bassa County, by the President of Liberia together with the commencement of Crude Palm Oil ('CPO') sales.



Liberia's First Commercial Palm Oil Mill

The US$3 million Mill was inaugurated following eight months of construction and testing, including the processing of oil palm bunches. The plant is currently processing 30 tonnes of fresh oil palm bunches ('FFB') daily sourced from the surrounding 3,500 hectares of existing oil palms rehabilitated by the Company over the past 12 months. An additional 1,200 hectares are being prepared for the 2011 planting of new oil palms currently in the nursery.



Daily production is averaging five tonnes of CPO per day at an extraction rate of 17%. Production is expected to rise as the Mill reaches full capacity in July 2011 with output in the order of 15 tonnes of CPO per day.



First Sales of CPO

First sales of CPO in to the Liberian market occurred during April and a larger sale tender process is to be undertaken during May.



The Mill was inaugurated by the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who attended and spoke at the event expressing her appreciation of the work completed and the importance of this project for Liberia. Also in attendance were other national and local government decision makers.



During the visit to Palm Bay, the President also saw the rehabilitated areas, land prepared for new planting, the nursery with over 200,000 young palms and a primary school established and operated by the Company. In the latest of several local charitable and community development projects being undertaken to improve the social well-being of the communities in which it operates, the Company was pleased to present a cheque for US$25,000 towards a new local women's market in the nearby town of Buchanan, which will have over 100 stalls for trading of goods and local produce.



Michael Frayne, Executive Chairman, commented:

"The inauguration of the Mill and commencement of CPO sales are two important milestones for Equatorial Palm Oil as the Company continues with its development plans to become a significant palm oil producer in the West African region. The Mill is a tangible example of the Company's continued investment providing a positive benefit for Liberia as it drives to create additional value for shareholders.



The Company seeks to continue planting and developing additional land areas to reach its planting target of 1,200 hectares in 2011 increasing to higher planting rates in subsequent years."



The Company will provide a further update in its statement of results for the year ended 31 December 2010 expected to be announced at the end of this month.



Enquiries:



Equatorial Palm Oil plc

Michael Frayne, Chairman




+44 (0) 20 7766 7555

Shore Capital & Corporate Ltd.

NOMAD and Joint Broker

Pascal Keane

Edward Mansfield






+44 (0) 20 7408 4090



Mirabaud Securities LLP

Joint Broker

Peter Krens






+44 (0) 20 7484 3510

Pelham Bell Pottinger

Financial / Corporate PR

Charles Vivian






+44 (0) 20 7861 3126



Notes to Editors:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13688683

Mentions PAL:

Equatorial Palm Oil
With an ambitious Indian jv partner & shareholder underpinning it financially, EPO has moved fast to rehabilitate an initial 3,500ha and to inaugurate a 30 mt / day mill. Planting of a further 1200 ha within 2011 is reported to be on track.

So good to hear that they are on track for this year. We always knew this would be a slow and steady riser, and Mirabaud reckon it takes 3 years for planted palms to come "online" as it were, so going by their research note we should be at 6,000 mature and planted palms by next year (for a mkt cap of $73.0m based on current mkt cap/hectare), rising to 49,200 hectares of mature palms by 2020 (for a mkt cap of $600m). For reference, our current market cap is about $34m depending on the FX rate.

If our $ mkt cap per hectare were to rise to that of New Britain Palm Oil (and by then we would be a fairly decent sized producer), the market cap would be $1.2bn for a share price of about 6 assuming an FX rate of 1.6 and no new shares issued until then. That's a 35 bagger in 9 years, I could live with that...

Time to top up?!

sorry aldo, but damn fool idea if you ask me - see post 66

Post 66 "unstable and corrupt country (unlike indonesia of course!)" ........... not so corrupt now with new lady President , and a lot of new investment coming into the palm oil industry in west Africa, and its the only company with a up and running processing mill

And TFC has a holding , at the last time he made an appearance.

Watch it aldwickk, you will have Harrycat and cynic saying have you not got anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon then trawl through old posts. Harry will suggest going and doing his garden or walk the dog. I have turned this offer down. lol
you may get the job at 5/hr

Slight upward movement today , at last.

(01 Aug, 2011)
Palm oil gained for the first time in three days, joining a rally in commodities and stocks, after President Barack Obama said Congressional leaders reached an agreement to raise U.S. debt ceiling, avoiding a default.

Sold all my PAL shares , and put most of the proceeds into VGM and NYO

Did you fall out of love with them aldwickk?

anyone still in..?

Can't see no reason why it won't recover , just like the market I don't know when .

A treble negative :-)

Hope you took a fw profits ald.

2012 should be a transforming year for PAL as production ramps up.

lol.

I agree Halifax

movement - but no news I've seen?

I noticed that , like to buy back in at some point

Now looks like a good time - the new mill must be performing well judging by the move northwards

Yes , I bought back in @16p

http://www.citywire.co.uk/money/david-kempton-neglected-palm-oil-companies-get-my-cash/a572589

http://www.thaipalmoil.com/paper2011/Malaysian_experience%20in%20POIC_Sabah%20Palmex%20Thailand%202011.pdf

10 May 2012
EQUATORIAL PALM OIL PLC
("EPO" or the "Company")

Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2011

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL) the AIM listed palm oil production and development company with operations in Liberia, West Africa announces its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Financial Highlights:
· Maiden revenues achieved from the Company's first crude palm oil ("CPO") sales.
· Loss of US$2,167,000 (2010: US$4,401,000).
· Cash held by EPO at year end was US$1,329,000 (2010: US$6,760,000).
· Cash held by Liberian Palm Developments Ltd. ("LPD"), EPO's 50% joint venture company which holds the oil palm assets, was US$7,854,000 (2010: n/a), excluding a US$10m loan LPD made in October 2011 which has now been repaid in full.

Operational Highlights:
· Successfully planted 1,100 hectares of new oil palms, having re-habilitated over 3,500 hectares of existing palms to provide interim mill feed.
· Completed the implementation of the joint venture agreement with BioPalm Energy Limited ("BioPalm"), a subsidiary of the Siva Group, an Indian conglomerate. BioPalm also committed to a cash injection of US$30m and an additional US$30m loan facility guarantee.
· Strengthened management team with the appointments of Mr. Declan Griffin as Head of Country - Liberia and Mr. Sashi Nambiar as Head of Operations, both with extensive experience managing oil palm estates and large-scale operations.
· Continued progress on local infrastructure including roads, bridges, housing, schools and health clinics.

Outlook:
· Continued expansion of the Palm Bay and Butaw nursery sites to accommodate an increased planting schedule.
· CPO price widely expected to remain strong in the face of production shortfalls and increased demand for sustainable CPO.

Michael Frayne, Executive Chairman of Equatorial Palm Oil commented:

"I am pleased to report on the excellent growth that EPO has achieved in 2011. The Company continues to progress from strength to strength at a time of increasing palm oil prices amid a louder calling for sustainable production. The inauguration and final commissioning of Liberia's only commercial palm oil mill at the Palm Bay Estate puts EPO in a strong position to not only enhance cash flow but to train our employees for future expansion. Furthermore, our progress in planting at the Palm Bay Estate and the expansion of nurseries provides the basis for successful operations in years to come.

Thank you to all of our employees for their hard work and dedication. I look forward to updating the market on continued progress."

Notice of Annual General Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Equatorial Palm Oil plc (the "Company") will be held at the offices of SGH Martineau LLP, 5th Floor, One America Square, Crosswall, London EC3N 2SG on Monday 18th June2012 at 11am.


Equatorial Palm Oil plc
Michael Frayne (Executive Chairman)
www.epoil.co.uk
+44 (0) 20 7766 7555




Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)
James Harris / Paul Cocker
+44 (0) 20 7409 3494


Mirabaud Securities LLP (Broker)
Peter Krens
+44 (0) 20 7484 3510


Pelham Bell Pottinger (Financial / Corporate PR)
Archie Berens / Philippe Polman
+44 (0) 20 7861 3232


CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

2011 has been another year of significant progression for Equatorial Palm Oil plc ("EPO" or the "Company").
In February 2011, EPO announced the completion of the implementation of the Joint Venture ("JV") arrangement between Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited, a subsidiary of EPO, and BioPalm Energy Limited ("BioPalm"), a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate, the Siva Group. The arrangement injected US$30 million into Liberian Palm Developments Limited ("LPD"), the JV company in which Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited and BioPalm each hold 50%. Additionally, BioPalm will arrange and guarantee a US$30 million loan facility to LPD.

As the operator of LPD, EPO is applying the US$60 million in JV funding to accelerate its strategic development plan in respect of its c.169,000 hectare land position at Palm Bay, Butaw and River Cess.
2011 saw us entering into a new stage of development, marked by the planting of 1,100 hectares of new oil palms and the commencement of production of crude palm oil ("CPO") following the construction and commissioning of the state-of-the-art palm oil mill at Palm Bay.

Liberia is attracting a significant amount of foreign investment, including in the agriculture sector, as the country benefits from further stability in the country's political process. During the period Liberia held its second successful democratic election with the incumbent President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, being elected for a further five year term.

Operational Review

Palm Bay Estate
The Palm Bay Estate is located 25 kilometres from the deep-water port of Buchanan. LPD will be relocating its head office to Buchanan, given its proximity to Palm Bay and the importance of future operations at the port, where LPD plans to establish a storage tank farm.

During the financial year, LPD achieved the significant milestone of completing the first 1,100 hectares of new planting. This planting has provided an additional benefit in strengthening the skills base of the planting staff in preparation for a significant increase in planting rates in the years to come. This important employee development and training provides a key foundation to the successful expansion of operations.
The capacity of the nursery on Palm Bay Estate has been significantly increased to over 60 hectares, to support the 2012 and 2013 planting schedule.

Oil Palm Mill
In May 2011, the oil palm mill at Palm Bay Estate was inaugurated following eight months of construction and testing. The small but state-of-the-art mill is capable of processing five tonnes of fresh fruit bunches ("FFB") per hour and is processing the FFB harvested from some of the 3,500 hectares of rehabilitated palms on Palm Bay.

The mill is strategically important to us for several reasons including:
· training and development of staff - the technology is very similar to that in larger mills, providing staff with a solid foundation in technology and processes for the acquisition and implementation of larger capacity mills to service the future growth in operations and production; and
· early cash flows and establishment of a route to market - as the only commercial operating mill in Liberia, this will facilitate the establishment of key CPO marketing channels and customer relationships, which will be of importance when larger volume production comes on stream.

We were honoured to have the mill inaugurated by the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, reflecting the importance to Liberia of the development of LPD's project and the implementation of such value adding processing technology.

First Sales of CPO
First sales of CPO into the Liberian market occurred during the year and a larger sales process is on-going as the volumes of CPO production ramp up.

Butaw Estate
The main activity at Butaw consisted of the establishment of the first nursery and the upgrading of essential facilities including roads, bridges, housing, power and schools.

The nursery was established in September 2011 and now covers over 40 hectares, to support the 2012 and 2013 planting schedule.

As the second development site, Butaw is progressing well and the Company is excited about the excellent future potential of this Estate. Our current strategy is for Butaw to be planting at a similar rate to Palm Bay by 2013.

Butaw is located 42 kilometres from the deep water port of Greenville where LPD intends to establish a storage tank farm.

River Cess
In 2010 we signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the elected representatives of the people of River Cess County in order to work with them to develop a significant oil palm concession. The leaders of River Cess County are very supportive towards the establishment of commercial oil palm agriculture in their county, given the considerable employment and other economic benefits it will bring to this region.

The expansion potential is up to 80,000 hectares and River Cess is ideally located in-between our existing estates, allowing these projects to benefit from infrastructure works at both Butaw and Palm Bay and more importantly access to deep water ports at Buchanan and Greenville.

We are now working with local officials in order to convert the MOU into a full concession with the Liberian government.

Financial Review
The loss of the Group for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011 of $2,167,000 (2010: $4,401,000) was in line with expectations. Cash held by the Group as at 31 December 2011 was $1,329,000 (2010: $6,760,000), which did not include cash held by LPD.

In October 2011, LPD entered into a US$10 million term loan facility agreement for 6 months with two companies affiliated with JV partner BioPalm. This loan to BioPalm of cash that was surplus to the requirements of the JV for the period of the loan, provided the benefit of significantly greater rate of return than is available from deposit with the major banks. The loan was repaid on time and in full on 5 April 2012, together with accrued interest and an arrangement fee totalling US$350,684.93.

As at 31 December 2011, cash held by LPD was $7,854,000 (2010: n/a), which does not include the above US$10 million loan to BioPalm which has now been fully repaid.

The Community
We have always been committed to the social and economic development of the local communities in which we operate. Having an operating mill in place provides a very important and valuable platform to train local workers and increase the skills base for future development. Now that the mill is producing at full capacity, the employees are gaining first-hand experience in the operation and management of a palm oil mill. Not only will this offset training costs in the future when production will increase significantly, but it will also be a direct influence on the practical engineering, technical skills and operational knowledge gained by the employees.

Furthermore, we continue to support the education of local children, requiring the school attendance of employee's children, whilst also opening the classrooms to children in the area neighbouring the estates. Our schools now have approximately 580 students with a curriculum covering a range of disciplines.
All of these initiatives mean we are playing a significant part in creating a new generation of skilled workers to develop the Liberian economy.

Personnel
During the period, we were pleased to announce the addition of two key senior personnel in Liberia, Mr Declan Griffin as Head of Country - Liberia, and Mr Sashi Nambiar as Head of Operations.

Mr Griffin has the overall responsibility for all in-country operations, including the finance and administration functions, and has almost 30 years of global experience working in similar roles.

Mr Nambiar has 32 years' experience in all aspects of oil palm estates and has supervised the establishment and development of estates with a combined area of more than 100,000 hectares, including managing over 20,000 hectares of new planting development at Ketapang, Indonesia.

During the period, Mr Peter Bayliss resigned from his position as Managing Director of the Company in order to pursue other business interests, with his Director functions assumed by Mr Geoffrey Brown, the Company's Executive Plantations Director. Mr Brown has been an integral part of the Company's leadership team since the initial involvement in the Liberian project, and he brings almost 40 years' experience in the development and management of oil palm estates around the world. The Board would like to thank Mr Bayliss for his significant contribution to the Company.

On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome Mr Griffin and Mr Nambiar to our team and to thank all our employees for the tremendous progress that has been achieved during the year.

Outlook
The palm oil market fundamentals continue to look positive, with significant shortfalls in production at a time when demand is expected to continue increasing. The palm oil price continues to strengthen, pushing towards the highest recorded pricing in the last twelve months.

I would like to thank all those involved in the Company for their significant contribution as well as shareholders for their support, and I look forward to updating you on the continued progress in the year ahead and the creation of value for all stakeholders.

Michael Frayne
Executive Chairman

What to much rain can do , doesn't seem to be a big problem for PAL so far.

New Britain Palm Oil's adjusted pre-tax profits fell to $34.1m in the three months to the end of March - down from $80.4m last time.

Sales fell to $146.9m - down from $197.6m - and gross profits dropped to $67.4m from $107.8m.

The group processed 597,585 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches in the first quarter - 8.3% lower than the corresponding period last year, due almost entirely to extremely high rainfall.

PAL share price holding up well

24 May 2012



EQUATORIAL PALM OIL plc



("EPO" or the "Company")



Posting of Accounts and Annual General Meeting



Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL), the AIM listed palm oil development company with operations in Liberia, announces that its Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2011 have today been posted to shareholders and will be made available on the Company's website at www.epoil.co.uk.

As announced previously, the Annual General Meeting will be held at 11.00am on Monday 18 June at the offices of SGH Martineau LLP, 5th Floor, One America Square, Crosswall, London EC3N 2SG.

- END -

Result of AGM


Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL), the AIM listed palm oil development company with operations in Liberia, is pleased to announce that all the resolutions proposed to shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") held today, 18 June 2012, were duly passed. Resolution 5, as contained in the Notice of Annual General Meeting and available on the Company's website at www.epoil.co.uk was withdrawn from the list of resolutions prior to commencement of the meeting.

In addition, the Company announces that the AGM Presentation used during the meeting will be made available on the Company's website.

Weak oil price holding all palm oil co's back