PRODUCTION AND STOCKS OF COTTONSEED AND COTTONSEED PRODUCTS

CONFERENCE TAKES AIM AT TRANS FAT TREND

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM

COTTONSEED MEAL ON DISPLAY

US COTTONSEED PRODUCTS EXPORT REPORT

NEW YORK HEALTH BOARD HEARS COMMENTS ON TRANS FATS

WORLD BIOTECH UPDATES

MOVING?

PRODUCTION AND STOCKS OF COTTONSEED AND COTTONSEED PRODUCTS - Receipts of cottonseed at oil mills was nearly 370,000 tons for September, just below the 410,000 ton total of September a year ago but well above its 290,000 ton five-year average for the month. Cottonseed crushings for September, historically the low point for the crush season, were 159,284 tons, almost 20% higher than the five-year average of 135,000 tons. Stocks of cottonseed oil turned higher in September to end at 65.7 million lbs vs 60.6 million lbs at the end of August. Cottonseed oil stocks had been moving lower the three previous months. Hull stocks ended September at just under 15,000 tons, 25% lower than the 19,858 ton level at the end of August and 44% lower than the 26,798 ton level at the end of July. Stocks of cottonseed meal edged lower to 74,490 tons on September 30 vs 75,837 ton on July 31 and 53,263 tons at the end of September 2005. Linter stocks—both first cut and other cuts—moved higher at the end of September. First cut linter stocks moved from 940,000 lbs at the end of July to 1.3 million lbs at the end of September. Second/other cut linter stocks moved higher from 5.2 million lbs on August 31 to 6.9 million lbs on September 30. Complete details for production and stocks of US cottonseed and cottonseed products are available in the Statistics section of the NCPA web site www.cottonseed.com.

CONFERENCE TAKES AIM AT TRANS FAT TREND - Stakeholders engaged in fats and oils development and processing, food manufacturing, public health, nutrition science, research and medicine meet recently in Washington, DC, to discuss the current status and future implications of efforts to reduce trans fats without increasing saturated fats in the diet. One striking revelation among participants was the level of frustration regarding the zero trans fat trend and how to balance that with other obesity and public health issues. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent, food manufacturers and processors pointed out, to re-formulate ingredients, re-design packaging, and launch ad campaigns to take advantage of the zero trans fat trend. Will this ultimately benefit consumers by reducing cardiovascular disease? Will the epidemic of obesity that has hold of America be impacted? Will public health costs for diabetes, stroke and the like be significantly affected? Not likely, most conference participants agreed, unless real changes take place in the eating habits and caloric intake choices of Americans. Trans fat free products will continue to be consumer driven—with big players leading the way and smaller ones following along. Numerous alternatives exist, including the use of cottonseed oil, a number of nutrition and health experts pointed out. Challenges remain for baked goods, experts noted, as performance issues are critical.. “Cakes, breads and muffins must rise or consumers will reject them”, they said.

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM - Cottonseed crushings for the week ending October 22 totaled 56,351 tons, compared to 61,030 tons the previous week and 55,118 tons for a similar time period a year ago. Year-to-date crushings for the first 12 weeks of the season stand at 557,674 tons, 13% lower than the 642,111 ton total from the same time frame last year but 9% higher than the 509,397 ton total from two years ago. Complete weekly crush numbers are available in the Statistics section of the Members Only area of the web page…..Over 4,500 unique users accessed NCPA’s web site during the past month, and over 5,000 have averaged using the site during the past six months. Of those using the site, 25% access either the “Suppliers” link or the “Members” link, apparently looking for suppliers of cottonseed and/or cottonseed products. The next most accessed portion of the site is the “Publications” area that contains NCPA brochures and detailed information about cottonseed oil and cottonseed meal. The “Cottonseed Forum” section also remains a popular section with over 700 users last month.

COTTONSEED MEAL ON DISPLAY - The Foro Internacional para las Industrias Ganadera, Avícola y Porcícola (FIGAP 2006) {International Forum for the Cattle, Poultry and Pork Industries} was held October 19-21 in Guadalajara, Mexico and attended by an estimated 2,500 producers and feed industry professionals with over 100 exhibitors promoting the best in feed, equipment and services. NCPA and cottonseed feed products were prominently on display and received a steady stream of interested buyers, nutritionists and other potential end users. The latest industry statistics shows nearly 400,000 mt of seed has been shipped to Mexico so far this season (Oct-Aug) as well as over 110,000 mt of US cottonseed meal.

US COTTONSEED PRODUCTS EXPORT REPORT

NEW YORK HEALTH BOARD HEARS COMMENTS ON TRANS FATS - Dozens of people lined up to speak at a hearing before the New York City Board of Health concerning the city’s two controversial proposals for new restaurant regulations. One of the proposals would ban all but a minute amount of artificial trans fats from use in food preparation; the other would require many of the largest fast-food chains to post the caloric content of products on their menus and menu boards. Most speakers were clearly in favor of both proposals, with only a handful speaking against them, mainly restaurant executives and their representatives. One of them, an attorney for the Wendy’s International hamburger chain, told the board that the caloric-content rule would unfairly discriminate against a minority of restaurants, and would have the opposite of the intended effect. “It creates an incentive not to provide information in the future,” he said. That proposal would apply only to restaurants that already publish calorie counts in other ways, such as posting them on web sites or in brochures; it would require them to add the same information to their menus and menu boards. In practice, the major fast-food chains make up most of the affected group. Among the 70 people who signed up beforehand to speak at the hearing, several cited scientific evidence of the dangers of artificial trans-fats in foods. One was Dariush Mozaffarian, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He said that research had demonstrated that perhaps 6 percent of the heart attacks among New York City residents each year are caused by consuming trans fats. Many large chains have been moving away from the use of artificial trans fats in their cooking. On Monday, the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, owned by Yum Brands, announced that it would switch to using a cooking oil that contains no trans fats by April 2007; 80 percent of its menu is fried in oil. The company said its other chains, including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Long John Silver’s, were considering a similar switch. Wendy’s has also said it would stop frying with trans fats, and McDonalds said in 2002 that it would work to reduce its use of trans fats in its food. The Board of Health has said that it plans to vote on both regulatory proposals in December. It has the power to enact them as official city regulations without the approval of any other city or state agency. (Source: New York Times, October 30, 2006)

WORLD BIOTECH UPDATES - Eight of Austria's nine Federal States have passed biotechnology precautionary bills to protect their organic and small-scale agricultural sector with the ninth State implementing precautionary measures in its Environmental Act. Three Austrian ordinances still ban the planting of all EU-approved biotech crops. In addition, the Austrian Ministry of Health issued a government ordinance to implement a marketing ban on Monsanto's GT73 oilseed rape…..Despite continued consumer resistance and the absence of a national law on the coexistence of biotech and non biotech crops, French corn farmers are increasingly embracing biotech. The area planted to biotech corn is expected to reach 5,000 ha this year, as compared to 500-1,000 ha last year. Most of the product will likely continue to be sold in Spain. (Source: USDA, FAS, CMP, 10/20/2006)

MOVING? - Please send all change of address information to: National Cottonseed Products Association, 104 Timber Creek Drive, Suite 200, Cordova, TN  38018, or email to info@cottonseed.com.

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© National Cottonseed Products Association, Inc.

November 1, 2006