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UPDATE 1-Mewah plans S’pore IPO to raise up to $500 mln -sources

July 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 (Reuters) – Mewah Group, a palm oil firm with refineries in Malaysia, is planning to raise as much as $500 million in a Singapore initial public offering for expansion, two sources involved in the IPO said on Monday.

The planned listing, which will result in new investors owning 12-20 percent of Mewah’s enlarged share capital, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year, the sources told Reuters.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) are managing the offer, they said.

Credit Suisse and Mewah declined comment, while BNP Paribas could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mewah, whose main shareholders are Singaporean, owns three palm oil refineries in Malaysia and produces vegetable oil products include cooking oil, margarine and specialty fats used in ice cream, according to its website (www.mewahgroup.com).

The firm also has several sister firms in Singapore whose activities range from marketing Mewah products to providing transport and warehousing services.

“The group has approximately $2 billion turnover (and) the refineries have a combined output of about 2.5 million tons per annum,” a source familiar with Mewah said.

Mewah preferred to be described as a “Singapore-based group with refineries in Malaysia” rather than as a Malaysian firm, he added.

Palm oil traders Reuters spoke to said Mewah was a major seller of palm oil products to Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh and India.

The firm did not own plantations and got its feedstock came from both Malaysia and Indonesia, they added. (Reporting by Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar; Additional reporting by Niki Koswanage in KUALA LUMPUR)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: azhar, Bnp Paribas, bnpp, Cooking Oil, Credit Suisse, CSGN, Enlarged Share, feedstock, Firms In Singapore, Initial Public Offering, Oil Firm, Oil Products, Oil Refineries, Oil Traders, palm oil, reuters, Saeed, Share Capital, Transport And Warehousing, Warehousing Services

Malaysia’s Mewah plans $500 mln S’pore IPO – sources

July 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 5 (Reuters) – Malaysian vegetable oil firms Mewah Group is planning an initial public offering in Singapore to raise around $500 million, two sources involved in the deal said on Monday.

The IPO is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year, and the banks managing the offer are Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), the sources said.

Credit Suisse declined comment, while BNP Paribas and Mewah could not immediately be reached.

Mewah owns three palm oil refineries in Malaysia, and produces vegetable oil products include cooking oil, margarine and specialty fats used in ice cream, according to its website.

The firm also has several sister firms in Singapore whose activities range from marketing Mewah products to providing transport and warehousing services. (Reporting by Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: azhar, Bnp Paribas, bnpp, Cooking Oil, Credit Suisse, CSGN, Firms In Singapore, Initial Public Offering, margarine, Oil Firms, Oil Products, Oil Refineries, palm oil, pore, Ranasinghe, reuters, Saeed, Transport And Warehousing, vegetable oil, Warehousing Services

UPDATE 1-Indonesia says won’t revoke existing forestry licenses

June 3, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, June 2 (Reuters) – Indonesia won’t revoke existing forestry licenses for palm oil firms as part of a deal with Norway to preserve rain forests, a government minister and industry official said on Wednesday.

Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa told reporters that the government had no intention of limiting the expansion of the $15-billion Indonesian palm oil industry, although it was committed to slowing deforestation.

“We want to keep to our targets of 40 million tonnes of crude palm oil,” he said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Java. “We will not take away the existing licenses.”

The country plans to produce 21-23 million tonnes of palm oil this year.

“We have food security interests and our export earnings to protect but expansion will be at a sustainable pace for our future generations,” Rajasa added.

A two-year commitment to halt new concessions to the industry for the conversion of rainforests and peatlands will go on as planned under the Norwegian deal signed last week, Indonesian Palm Oil Board Vice Chairman Derom Bangun said. [ID:nJAK326556]

“The government has assured us that the expansion of oil palm estates will continue within reasonable limits,” Bangun told Reuters.

A government official had previously said Indonesia could revoke licenses, and would provide compensation and degraded land in exchange, prompting planters to say that such a move would put their investments in jeopardy. [ID:nJAK364804]

Leaving existing licenses untouched would allow top planters like Singapore-listed Wilmar (WLIL.SI) and Malaysia’s Sime Darby (SIME.KL) to continue developing concessions and keep up with global demand for the vegetable oil used in chocolates, cooking oil and biofuels.

FOOD, REVENUES AND ENVIRONMENT

Indonesia has vast tracts of rainforests and peatlands that have been rapidly converted into oil palm estates, pushing the Southeast Asian country ahead of Malaysia as the world’s top palm oil producer.

Green groups and governments contend that climate change can be slowed if Indonesia’s forests, which soak up global warming gases like carbon dioxide, are preserved.

Indonesia has pledged to cut emissions by 41 percent by 2020 if it gets foreign funding and other assistance or by 26 percent if it does not.

Norway’s $1-billion contribution to forest conservation projects in Indonesia is contingent on the Southeast Asian country proving that it can curb the rate of deforestation and therefore reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

Most of the funds will be spent on preparing for and implementing pilot projects under a U.N.-backed forest preservation scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).

REDD allows developing nations to earn money by not chopping down their forests or through replanting cleared or degraded forests.

On Tuesday, an Indonesian government official said the palm oil industry could still grow via acquisitions of six million hectares of degraded land across the archipelago. [ID:nSGE6500D1] (Editing by Michael Urquhart)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: biofuels, Cooking Oil, Crude Palm Oil, Degraded Land, Export Earnings, Food Revenues, future generations, Global Demand, Government Minister, Hatta Rajasa, Oil Firms, Oil Palm, Palm Oil Board, Palm Oil Industry, rain forests, Rainforests, security interests, Sime Darby, Southeast Asian Country, Sustainable Pace

Indonesia says won’t revoke existing forestry licenses

June 3, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

“We want to keep to our targets of 40 million tonnes of crude palm oil,” he said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Java. “We will not take away the existing licenses.”

The country plans to produce 21-23 million tonnes of palm oil this year.

“We have food security interests and our export earnings to protect but expansion will be at a sustainable pace for our future generations,” Rajasa added.

“The government has assured us that the expansion of oil palm estates will continue within reasonable limits,” Bangun told Reuters.

FOOD, REVENUES AND ENVIRONMENT

Green groups and governments contend that climate change can be slowed if Indonesia’s forests, which soak up global warming gases like carbon dioxide, are preserved.

Indonesia has pledged to cut emissions by 41 percent by 2020 if it gets foreign funding and other assistance or by 26 percent if it does not.

Most of the funds will be spent on preparing for and implementing pilot projects under a U.N.-backed forest preservation scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).

REDD allows developing nations to earn money by not chopping down their forests or through replanting cleared or degraded forests.

Soon, cakes, frostings that won”t let you pile on the pounds

March 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 30 (ANI): Thanks to an Indian-origin US scientist, yummy new cakes and frostings may one day contain less fat and fewer calories.

In experiments at her Peoria laboratory, Mukti Singh is formulating low-fat cake mixes and frostings with Fantesk—microdroplets of trans-fat-free cooking oil, encapsulated in cornstarch or wheat flour. Fantesk was developed in the 1990s by NCAUR chemists George Fanta and the late Kenneth Eskins.

Mukti is based at the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Ill.

Singh””s experiments have shown that, when making a cake with a mix that contains Fantesk, cooking oil doesn””t have to be added. And, the mixes containing Fantesk produce low-fat cakes that have better texture and a higher volume.

Furthermore, the lower-fat frostings that Singh and Peoria chemical engineer Jeffrey Byars are creating with Fantesk have the smooth texture and spreadability of buttercream favorites, yet contain up to 50 percent less fat. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 1990s, Agricultural Utilization Research, chemical engineer, chemists, Cooking Oil, cornstarch, Encapsulated, experiments, fanta, fewer calories, Frostings, indian origin, Low Fat Cake, Low Fat Cakes, Mukti, Peoria Ill, scientist, Smooth Texture, Wheat Flour

Process that lights up big-screen plasma TVs can produce super-clean fuel

March 23, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, March 23 (ANI): The technology used to light up big-screen plasma TVs has a hidden application – creating ultra-clean fuel, say researchers.

Albin Czernichowski, a professor at the University of Orleans in France, described a small, low-tech, inexpensive device called a GlidArc reactor that uses electrically-charged clouds of gas called “plasmas” to produce super-clean fuels from waste materials in three steps.

One is a diesel fuel that releases 10 times less air pollution than its notoriously sooty, smelly conventional counterpart.

Czernichowski noted that the reactors, about the size of a refrigerator, are custom designed to clean dirty gases produced by a low-tech gasification of locally available wastes, biomass, or other resources to produce clean mix of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas to synthesize biofuels.

Corn farming regions, for instance, could use corn stover (leaves and stalks left in the field after harvest) as the raw material. In urban areas, waste cooking oil from restaurants could be the raw material. In regions that produce biodiesel fuel, glycerol could be converted into clean fuels.

Czernichowski pointed out production of biofuels results in huge amounts of glycerol byproduct – 200 pounds for every 2,000 pounds of biodiesel.

The glycerol is expensive to refine to the high purity needed for commercial use. GlidArc reactors could transform glycerol into a clean synthesis gas (the carbon monoxide and hydrogen) for production of fuels, he said.

Czernichowski realized in 1986 that a branch of science called non-equilibrium cold plasma could be used to produce new transportation fuels that are less polluting than their conventional counterparts as they lack harmful substances found in traditional transportation fuels.

The technology gets it name from the use of a gliding arc of electricity to that produces a plasma inside the reactor. The plasma allows chemical reactions to occur at dramatically reduced temperatures.

Gases from heating (pyrolyse or gasification) biomass or glycerol, for instance, become clean and chemically active, and this allows for the transformation of those materials into clean fuels.

“The main advantage of such biobased fuels that the GlidArc Technology can create is that they constitute “drop-in replacements” for fossil Diesel oil, gasoline or kerosene, and no modifications are needed in engines, vehicles and distribution systems,” Czernichowski said.

“The biofuels can also be used as additives to various types of engine fuels to improve certain fuel properties. Another important advantage, of course, is their much lower toxicity for mankind and the environment compared to conventional fuels,” Czernichowski added.

The research has been presented at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: air pollution, byproduct, Cold Plasma, Conventional Counterpart, Conventional Counterparts, Cooking Oil, corn stover, Farming Regions, gasification, Gliding Arc, Glycerol, Harmful Substances, Hidden Application, high-purity, Hydrogen Gas, plasma tvs, Screen Plasma, Synthesis Gas, Traditional Transportation Fuels, Waste Materials

Gushan Environmental Energy Limited Announces Date of Fourth Quarter 2009 and 2009 Annual Results Release and Conference Call with Investors

March 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Gushan Environmental Energy
Limited (“Gushan” or the “Company”; NYSE: GU) announces that it will submit
its unaudited results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2009 on Form
6-K to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, March 10,
2010, to be followed by a conference call on the same day at 8:30 a.m.
Eastern
Standard Time (9:30 p.m. Hong Kong Time) to discuss the Company’s fourth
quarter and annual financial results ended December 31, 2009.

To join the conference call, please use the dial-in details below:

US Toll Free Number 1.800.638.5495
US Toll Number: (for international callers) 1.617.614.3946
Hong Kong Toll Number 852 3002 1672
Hong Kong Toll Free Number 800 96 3844
China Toll Free Number 10 800 130 0399
UK Toll Free Number 00 800 280 02002
UK Toll Number (for international callers) 44 207 365 8426
Passcode: 74823868

An audio webcast will also be available at http://www.chinagushan.com

A replay of the call will be available on the same day at 10:30 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time (or 11:30 p.m. Hong Kong Time) until March 17, 2010.
To
listen to the replay, please use the dial in details below:

US Toll Free Number: 1.888.286.8010
US Toll Number: (for international callers) 1.617.801.6888
Passcode: 91954088

About Gushan Environmental Energy Limited

Gushan is a leader in the PRC biodiesel industry, in terms of annual
production capacity, and one of the leading biodiesel producers in Asia, in
terms of nominal capacity. The Company produces biodiesel, a renewable, clean-
burning and biodegradable fuel and a raw material used to produce chemical
products, primarily from vegetable oil offal and used cooking oil, and by-
products from biodiesel production, including glycerine, plant asphalt, erucic
acid and erucic amide. Gushan sells biodiesel directly to users, such as
marine vessel operators and chemical factories, as well as to petroleum
wholesalers and individual retail gas stations. The Company has seven
production facilities, located in the Sichuan, Hebei, Fujian and Hunan
provinces and Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, with a combined annual
production capacity of 450,000 tons. The Company’s Sichuan, Hebei, Beijing
and
Shanghai production facilities are currently in operation.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as
“will,” “may,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “target,” “intend,” “plan,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” and other similar statements.
Statements other than statements of historical facts in this announcement are
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, our expectations
regarding the expansion of our production capacities, our future business
development, and our beliefs regarding our production output. These forward-
looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are
based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about
the Company and the industry. Important risks and uncertainties that could
cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from
expectations include but are not limited to the effect of any applicable
government policy, law or regulation, of natural disasters, and of
intensifying competition in the biodiesel and alternative energy industries,
the availability of suitable raw materials to the Company, and the risks set
forth in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including on Form 20-F, as amended. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as may be required by
law. Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that its
expectations will turn out to be correct, and investors are cautioned that
actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results.

SOURCE Gushan Environmental Energy Limited

US: Elizabeth Cheek, Hill & Knowlton (New York), +1-212-885- 0682,
Elizabeth.cheek@hillandknowlton.com, or Asia: Rico Ngai, Hill & Knowlton (Hong
Kong), +852-2894-6204, Rico.ngai@hillandknowlton.com.hk

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 617 614, Amide, Audio Webcast, conference call, Cooking Oil, Eastern Standard Time, Environmental Energy, Glycerine, Hong Kong Time, international callers, Marine Vessel, Nyse, Offal, passcode, PRNewswire, raw material, securities and exchange commission, toll free number, Unaudited Results, vegetable oil

New military robot to fuel itself by gobbling up dead bodies

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 15 (ANI): A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever organic material it can find – grass, wood, old furniture, or even dead bodies.

Robotic Technology Inc.’s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) “can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable,” reads the company’s Web site.

Animal and human corpses contain plenty of energy, and they’d be plentiful in a war zone.

EATR will be powered by the Waste Heat Engine developed by Cyclone Power Technology of Pompano Beach, Florida, which uses an “external combustion chamber” burning up fuel to heat up water in a closed loop, generating electricity.

The advantages to the military are that the robot would be extremely flexible in fuel sources and could roam on its own for months, even years, without having to be refueled or serviced.

Upon the EATR platform, the Pentagon could build all sorts of things – a transport, an ambulance, a communications center, even a mobile gunship.

Robotic Technology is presenting EATR as an essentially benign artificial creature that fills its belly through “foraging,” despite the obvious military purpose. (ANI)

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Threat of death haunts people marooned in Swat

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Peshawar, Pakistan – For many in Pakistan’s war-torn Swat valley the choice is not between life and death, but between a death caused by bullets or bombs and a death by starvation or disease.

“I don’t want to die either way. I want to live but I know only a miracle can save me and my family,” said Ihsanullah, 35, who like thousands of civilians has been trapped in the midst of intense fighting between security forces and the Taliban for more than three weeks.

The clashes that started early this month have displaced around 2 million people from Swat and its three neighbouring districts. An estimated 200,000 more are still stranded in Swat alone, particularly in the northern part of the district.

Some of them are stuck because of the unavailability of transport or simply because they cannot afford the cost. Others were left behind by their families to take care of the houses, crops and cattle.

Ihsanullah said his family wanted to leave the area but government forces had imposed a curfew in and around Fajtour, a remote hamlet in Khwazakhela district.

“The Taliban do not allow us to leave the area and the military opens fire upon those who try to sneak out in small groups,” he said in a phone interview.

At the same time it is becoming difficult for the stranded civilians to stay in their homes. Days of curfew have dried up food supplies while local reserves are rapidly running out. Vegetables, sugar and cooking oil are not available.

Wheat flour that the locals use to make roti – a traditional round, flat bread that is part of almost every Pakistani meal – was available a few days back but only at an unaffordable price.

Some well-off residents bought 20-kilogram bags of wheat flour for as much as 10,000 rupees (125 dollars) and paid up to 200 rupees (2.5 dollars) for an egg, said Saleem Khan, a lecturer from the Khwazakhela area of Swat. Normally a 20-kilogram bag costs 600 rupees (7.5 dollars) and an egg five rupees (less than a cent).

Hospitals in many areas have stopped working. Most of the staff have deserted, and some brave doctors who stayed don’t even have basic medicines to offer.

“If the situation does not improve or the besieged people are not moved out, thousands of them will die of starvation or disease,” Khan said.

The military operation in Swat has entered a decisive phase, but officials say the final push will be “painfully slow,” meaning no early respite for the civilians marooned by street battles and curfews.

So far, more than 1,100 militants and over 60 soldiers have been killed in the offensive, according to the government. But up to 2,000 hard-core Taliban fighters are still believed to be holed up in populated areas.

There exists broad political and public support for the military campaign against the Taliban, but analysts have warned that the support could vanish quickly if the displaced people and those stranded were not taken care of.

“We are fully aware of the gravity of the situation,” said Wajid Ali Khan, a provincial minister in North-West Frontier Province, where Swat is located.

“But we can do little to directly help these people. The area has been given under army control and we repeatedly request them to either move people out or provide them with food supplies,” he added.

Thousands of people in the Bahrain area of Swat defied the curfew on Friday and marched towards a military checkpoint. They were chanting slogans like “Give us wheat flour or safe passage.”

Two days later the military said it had dispatched 15 truckloads of relief items for people stranded in Bahrain and the surrounding areas. Thousands more are still waiting for supplies.(dpa)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: civilians, clashes, Cooking Oil, curfew, Death By Starvation, Flat Bread, food supplies, government forces, kilogram, lecturer, life and death, Neighbouring Districts, phone interview, rupees, Saleem Khan, security forces, Small Groups, swat valley, unavailability, Wheat Flour

‘Green’ bus that runs on chip fat hits the road in UK!

May 7, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

London, May 7 (ANI): A single-decker bus, dubbed “The Chipper”, that runs on waste cooking oil from chip shops has taken to the UK streets.

The “green” vehicle, a 1998 Dennis Dart vehicle converted for the scheme, is beginning a six-month trial in Bristol to see whether its performance can match that of conventional coaches, reports Sky News.

The bus is powered by bio-diesel from waste cooking oil sourced from several local restaurants. The operator has also appealed to passengers to “chip in” by donating their own waste cooking oil to local recycling centres.

John Bickerton, engineering project manager for First UK Bus, said: “As well as being a near carbon-neutral fuel source, biodiesel made from waste cooking oil can produce less carbon monoxide when it is burnt.

“It is considered better for the environment than conventional diesel.”

Justin Davies, managing director of First in Bristol, said: “We welcome any opportunity to trial new or alternative technologies, particularly if in doing so we’re able to reduce our own impact on the environment.”

As part of a climate change strategy First UK Bus aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2020. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: alternative technologies, Bio Diesel, carbon emissions, carbon monoxide, chip shops, climate change strategy, conventional diesel, Cooking Oil, decker bus, dennis dart, engineering project, fuel source, john bickerton, local restaurants, managing director, sky news, sourced, strategy first, uk bus, uk london, uk streets

Mounting violence, political crisis prompting Pakistanis to stock up on food

March 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Mar.11 (ANI): People across Pakistan are stocking up on essential items, including food in anticipation of the political crisis in the country taking a turn for the worse in the coming days.

In Lahore, a large banner, offering facilities to freeze home-cooked food and store it for months, or even years, flutters across a busy street.

Azizuddin Ahmed, 50, an electrician, was quoted by the website irinnews.org as saying: “Frankly, everyone thinks things will get very bad soon and we should stock up on food items. If that happens, and there are shortages and violence, it may not be a bad idea to do what they suggest and freeze some cooked food.”

Ahmed and his wife, Sabiha Bibi have been attempting to buy some grocery items for their family of eight, including six children, but have been thwarted by a strike which has paralyzed many cities across the Punjab.

Political unrest as a result of growing conflict between the ruling PPP and the opposition has led to violence over the past 10 days, with vehicles set alight, tyres burnt and angry protests in the streets.

Governor’s Rule is now in force in the Punjab after the elected chief minister of the province, Shahbaz Sharif, was ousted following a controversial court ruling. His supporters have reacted with fury.

Earlier this month seven people were killed in a high-profile attack on a visiting Sri Lankan cricket team.

Violence also continues in the North West Frontier Province, where the shrine of a revered mystic poet, Rahman Baba, was torn apart by bombs in Peshawar, after militants issued warnings that women could not visit the site. In other towns, shops selling music or film have been attacked, local media reported.

The violence has triggered growing alarm among ordinary citizens.

“I am stocking up on ‘atta’ (wheat flour) and cooking oil, as everyone says there may be shortages if things get much worse,” Anwar Hameed, a trader in a Lahore market, was quoted by the website, as saying.

Evidence of the growing uncertainty among people has been visible in major cities, with people buying in bulk in case there is crisis ahead.

The fear has been particularly acute in Islamabad, where protesters from across the country are due to converge in a few days time.

“It’s OK if you can afford to buy food for weeks or days. I buy what I can as I earn Rs.400 or 500 a day,” labourer Aslam Masih, was quoted, as saying.

“When markets shut down and there is violence, no one comes out of their homes – and that means we get no work… When we don’t work, our families don’t eat. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

Several have lost their jobs due to the crisis.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gillani has promised “things will be back to normal soon”, but few are convinced.

In the media, a major political upheaval is being anticipated.(ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Angry Protests, anwar, Busy Street, Chief Minister, Cooking Oil, food items, frontier province, Lahore, Mystic Poet, north west frontier, ordinary citizens, Pakistanis, peshawar, political crisis, political unrest, Sabiha, Selling Music, sri lankan cricket, Sri Lankan cricket team, Taking A Turn, Wheat Flour