Dear Mr Patel, Refining losses depend on the type of oil involved, its age, actual analytical values including gum levels, not simply its specification, bleaching dose, etc. Also just the name of the plant is not enough as plant constructors have different versions and introduce modifications all the time. Consultants have to visit clients and preferably also talk to the constructors, before offering advice on plants. It cannot be done from thousands of miles away and a few lines on the internet. Regards, FP (14.02.2011)

Dear Mr Adnan, To give you full instructions on two methods of soap making would need many pages and this column is for simple, short, explanations. The only difference between the hot and the cold process is that the hot one is quicker. You have not told me what is wrong with your soap, "does not come out good" means nothing. As regards your formula, the mount of water is far too much and you should reduce it to 25kg. Dissolve the caustic in it fully and start adding it to the mixer slowly and steadily when about half the oil charge is in. Regards, FP (14.02.2011)

Dear Mr Mohamed, Please read my answer to Q1062. You have told me your batch size, from which I can guess you will have a batch process, but before I can give you any estimate of yield, you must at the very least also tell me the FFA of your CPO, its moisture and impurities, and the amount of bleaching earth you expect to use, which will depend on the colour standard you want in the RBD oil. As you see, when it comes to processing a lot of information is needed before any meaningful calculations can be made. Any fool can give you a figure out of a hat and leave you to take the consequences. Regards, FP (11.02.2011)

Dear Mr Polea, 1) If by CFAD you mean coconut fatty acid distillate, its FFA is higher because it, what its name says, fatty acid, while CNO is oil. 2) I cannot give you figures for yields because they depend on the quality of your crude oil, the process you use, etc, which you have not told me. Regards, FP (11.02.2011)

Dear Mr Nader, For taxes in Indonesia or any where else you have to ask local sources.They are changing all the time. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Yee, If you are an economist, you are using the wrong terminology. The correlation coefficient is a number between -1and +1, denoting the strength of association between to variables. What you want here is called the regression coefficient. But your question is very interesting and I have been working on it my self, as a means of forecasting PO prices. I have calculated the coefficients. between prices and all the variables singly, such as stocks, production, supply, demand, and many ratios, but unfortunately, they all turned out too weak to be of any use. For example nothing could have predicted the huge prices of 2008 or of today. I think you have to put into the model all these variables together, but then the mathematics become terribly complicated. I think the strongest effect is human psychology. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Gundarangan, For questions about establishing plantations and questions from other consultants I can only advise on a private consultation basis. But I can tell you it is very unwise to embark on a venture costing $millions, without expert advice throughout the period. As for prospects, at current PO prices, a plantation is the next best thing to a gold mine. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Shan, Sorry this is a purely commercial question and I have no experience in it. But you can ask any seller. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Zain, Please see my reply to an identical question 1052. I think I may have given too much assistance there, already. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Akin, You can find names of reputable international plant constructors in technical journals or by attending conferences etc. Alternatively, I can give you names and addresses of the companies you want, on a private consultation basis. But I shall need to know the type of processing you have in mind, eg whether it is crushing palm fruit, or refining CPO, or both, and the daily output you have in mind. Regards, FP (10.02.2011)

Dear Mr Wani, If you are are a research student then you must have already got a BSc degree. and so I am appalled that you are not able to do the most elementary calculations. I cannot just give you the figures because the main purpose of a higher degree is to learn how to find information from original sources. But I will give you some help.The simplest way is to look up the published triglyceride composition of your oils and add it up. Or look up their fatty acid composition, then calculate the triglyceride composition and add it up.This second method is better for you as it will teach you how fats are formed. Regards, FP (09.02.2011)

Dear Mr Abdullah, The price of PO is still below that of the other major oils, soy, rapeseed, sun etc. But it has been high enough for long enough, to provide all the incentive it needs and its production has been increasing faster than that of any other oil. But there are limits to it because it needs a lot of capital, the supply of land is limited, it takes years for the trees to reach maturity and young trees start with low yields. In the mean time, increasing world population compounded by increase in consumption per head, will take care of any increase in production. Regards, FP (07.02.2011)

Dear Mr Saha, I am sorry I have no experience in trading and cannot advise you how to do it. But I suggest you start by finding the address of some exporter in Malaysia or Indonesia and start talking to him. However, this website has hundreds of such people as members and you can contact them if you join. Regards, FP (07.02.2011)

Dear Mr Patel, Refining losses depend on the type of oil, its FFA, its content of gums and other emulsifying agents, the refining process employed, ie whether chemical or physical, batch, or continuous, the design of the plant and in the case of a batch processes, on the operators' skill as well. If by refining you mean full refining, rather than just neutralisation, then you must add the bleaching and deodorising losses on top. A consultant should be able to give you some reasonably accurate figures after you give him all the details. Regards, FP (07.02.2011)

Dear Mr Dennis, Information of this type is available on this website on subscription. If you are engaged in this business I cannot see how you can hope to succeed without good information. Regards, FP (07.02.2011)

Dear Mr Dennis, The price of commodities is decided primarily by the balance of supply and demand and not by the cost of production. The price of PKO is what it is because enough people are prepared to pay it. Regards, FP (01.02.2011)

Dear Mr Dennis, Indonesia's consumption, (use for all purposes) of PKO in 2010 was 624,000 tonnes. Note that a better term for that is disappearance, because consumption is often taken to mean use for human edible purposes. Regards, FP (31.01.2011)

Dear Mr Dennis, CNO stands for Coconut oil which together with PKO compose the lauric oil group. Canola oil (C0) is a low erucic variety of rapeseed oil (RSO) first developed and marketed by the Canadians, but these days practically all RSO is of that type. because erucic acid was shown to have some bad health effects. Present day RSO is very healthful. Regards, FP (31.01.2011)

Dear Mr Dennis, I have no quick answer to your question. Probably the BP oil spill had an effect. But to answer it properly I would need too much time analysing the trade statistics and prices of all the other oils too. But the lauric oils have different usesand move in their own independent price plateau. There is no reason to expect a constant PKO/PO price ratio. Regards, FP (31.01.2011)

Dear Mr Banic, I think you should be asking MPOB what their figures mean and not us. According to my records, Malaysian PO production in 2010 was 17.3 mln t., and the forecast I have for 2011 is 18.1 mln. Please bear in mind that forecasts are by their nature inaccurate and even the actual figures from the past are revised and adjusted up to 4 or 5 years later. People in the trade spend too much time studying production changes and trying to predict next year's prices, but no one has produced any credible evidence of a correlation able to stand up to proper statistical tests and strong enough to be of any practical use. There are too many other factors confusing the picture, including demand, the other oils, the weather, politics, etc. Regards, FP (31.01.2011)