MMTC may buy Malaysian palmolein
Indian state-run commodity trading firm MMTC Ltd is looking to import large quantities of RBD palm olein from Malaysia, a senior firm official said on Wednesday. "We are in the market to import substantial quantities of RBD palm olein from Malaysia," the official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "We are currently negotiating deals with Malaysian suppliers."He declined to give the price details or the exact quantity of palm olein that MMTC was aiming to buy from Malaysia. "All I can say is that we have already brought about 35,000 tonnes of RBD palm olein from Malaysia in the recent past and we are looking for more from them," the official added. He said MMTC was also hopeful of buying up to 100,000 tonnes of RBD palm olein from Indonesia. "Negotiations with Indonesia are also on. The finalisation of deals is getting slightly delayed because of some problems. But we are hopeful that some deals will be struck in a month." "Indonesian palm olein will work out slightly cheaper than that ofMalaysia," the official added.

GM seed compensation
French oilseed producers said on Tuesday they were confident they would be fully compensated after the government ordered the destruction of rapeseed crops with traces of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Oilseed Producer Association (FOP) president Xavier Beulin told reporters the French subsidiary of Avanta Seeds - which sold farmers GMO seed which were inadvertently planted on some 600 hectares in France - had agreed to compensate farmers for lost revenues. Advanta, part of a 50-50 venture between Anglo-Swedish group AstraZeneca Plc and Dutch cooperative Cosun, also sold genetically modified seeds to farmers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Luxembourg. Earlier, a European Union official said a commission body would decide on Thursday whether or not to pay farmers their usual EU aid despite the destruction of their crops. Last week FOP estimated losses at between 2.8 million French francs and 4.2 million francs for an area affected ranging between 400 hectares and 600 hectares.

Shell to stay in Russia
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell said it saw political stability improving in Russia and intended to stay in the country for the foreseeable future. The group also said it planned to pursue an ambitious gas transportation project in Central Asia but did not pledge to stick with it under any circumstance. "We see lots of positive progress with recent political developments in Russia," Linda Cook, chief executive of Shell's gas and power unit, told Reuters. "Shell has real staying power. We can see through projects in good times and bad." Cook said Shell was "still committed" to a project to builda TransCaspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Turkey despite Turkmenistan's political leaders saying they fear a delay. She declined to say whether Shell would also stick with the TransCaspian project "in good and bad times." Shell has a 62-percent stake in the Sakhalin 2 oil production project in Russia's far east, one of the only profitable production sharing agreements in the country.