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

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