NEWS IN BRIEF INDIA: The government has reduced the import tax on soya and sunflower oils to 7.5% from 15% in a bid to contain surging edible oil prices, Reuters reported on 20 August. The tax cut was introduced for six weeks and would last until 30 September but could be extended if prices remained high. Following the move, soya oil and sunflower oil imports would be subject to an effective tax rate of 30.25%. India fulfilled more than two-thirds of its edible oil demand through imports and had been struggling to contain a rally in local oil prices for the last few months, Reuters wrote. It had already cut the import tax on crude palm oil on 29 June.
Hurricane Ida disrupts US Gulf logistics and exports Global agribusiness and food ingredient companies were assessing damage to facilities after Hurricane Ida disrupted grain and oilseed exports from the US Gulf Coast, which typically handles 60% of US exports, according to a World Grain report on 2 September. Grain facilities in the region were without power and some were inundated with floodwaters after Ida made landfall on 29 August in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, just south of New Orleans. US agribusiness firm Cargill said its terminals in Reserve and Westwego, Louisiana had both sustained damage. Farm cooperative CHS Inc's Myrtle Grove terminal in Louisiana also sustained damage, with a two-to-four week estimate for power being restored, World Grain reported. In preparation for Hurricane Ida’s arrival, Archer-Daniels Midland Company (ADM) had shut down four grain elevators and port operations, according to ADM spokesperson Jackie Anderson.
Daiana Endruweit, global media relations manager at Bunge, told AgriCensus that there had been no significant structural damage to the company’s facilities but that "they are not operating as there is no power". Companies that had sustained damage and were facing a lengthy wait for restored power were looking at other export outlets, a commodities trader was quoted by World Grain as saying, with transport times to destinations and transportation costs expected to increase as a result. The US Gulf Coast is a major fatty alcohol production and import site, as well as a petroleum centre. More than 95% of the Gulf of Mexico’s oil production facilities had been shut down, with a significant impact on the US energy supply, according to an American News Times report. Six petroleum refineries in the New Orleans area – including PBF, Shell, Marathon and two Valero refineries had been affected.
Peels launches CBD oil made from orange peels cyclic terpene assembly (CTA) to produce its CBD oil from orange peel, according to its website. The process combined terpenes from orange peel with olivetol, a naturally occurring organic compound, under heat and pressure. After minimal further processing, the result was a crystalline CBD, the firm said. Organic citrus flavour and organic medium-chain triglycerides from coconut oil were added to the company’s CBD oil to improve its taste and aroma.
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US cannabidiol (CBD) company Peels has launched a CBD oil made from orange peels, PR Newswire reported on 3 August. Traditionally, CBD was extracted from the hemp plant but, on its website, Peels said it could reconstruct the same molecular structure from the terpenes naturally present in citrus peels to create a pure, bio-identical CBD molecule. The company said its CBD oil had the same holistic effects as cannabis and hemp-derived CBD, but was
Peels company has used orange peels to create CBD oil
free of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the psychoactive con-
stituent of cannabis. Peels uses a process called
Brazil loses water supply from climate change, deforestation A new study has estimated that Brazil lost almost a fifth of its surface fresh water supply between 1991 and 2020 due to climate change and deforestation, AgriCensus reported on 23 August. The study from the MapBiomas project showed that Brazil lost up to 15.7% of its fresh water resources during the period. Low water supplies were a pressing issue in Brazil last year with several crops suffering major losses due to droughts. Low water levels also affected the transporta4 OFI – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
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tion of commodities through the Paraná River waterway, AgriCensus wrote. The project mapped satellite images from 1985 to 2020 and showed that between 1991 and 2020, the country’s freshwater surface dropped by 3.1M ha – equivalent to about the area of Belgium – to 16.6M ha. The research team believed that the main reasons behind the country’s water surface decline were climate change, with shorter and more concentrated periods of
rain, and deforestation, AgriCensus wrote. The deforestation of the Amazon rainforest had reduced moisture through the evapotranspiration of trees, according to project coordinator Tasso Azevedo. Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso states, where agriculture and livestock production had significantly increased over the last few decades, had lost the most freshwater surface areas since 1985, with 781,690 and 527,687 ha lost respectively, according to the study. www.ofimagazine.com
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