#AMAZONUNIONYES

Amazon driver quits, saying the final straw was the company's new AI-powered truck cameras that can sense when workers yawn or don't use a seatbelt

awilliams@insider.com (Annabelle Williams) 

3/29/2021

© Provided by Business Insider Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The Thomson Reuters Foundation spoke to a former Amazon driver who quit the company.

He said he left after Amazon installed AI-powered cameras in delivery vehicles.

The decision to surveil employees has raised privacy questions about workers' privacy at the tech giant.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation published a report Friday about an Amazon driver in Denver, Colorado, for whom the company's constant AI-driven surveillance proved to be too much.

Vic, who asked the Thomson Reuters Foundation to use only his first name "for fear of retaliation," this month quit his job delivering packages for the tech giant.

He started work in 2019 and saw Amazon's policies change to include more active means of surveillance. First there was an app tracking his route, and then the company wanted pictures of him at the beginning of each shift on another app, he told the foundation.

But the breaking point came, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, when Amazon announced that it would be installing AI cameras in their fleet of vehicles.

Insider reported in February that Amazon was equipping all delivery vehicles with AI camera systems called Driveri, manufactured by a company called Netradyne. The cameras are always on and scan drivers' body language, the speed of the vehicle, and even drowsiness. The system then uses "automated verbal alerts" to tell drivers if a violation has been detected.

When Amazon announced the policy change and gave its drivers a deadline to agree to the surveillance protocols, Vic told Thomson Reuters Foundation that he decided to put in his notice.

"It was both a privacy violation, and a breach of trust," he told the foundation. He also said that the company requiring drivers to agree to constant surveillance in order to do their jobs seemed like "a sort of coercion."

Amazon told Insider in February that driver footage is not automatically available to Amazon, and that the "live feed" is only triggered after a safety or policy violation is detected. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

Amazon responded to Insider's request for comment about the foundation's story with a statement saying: "We are investing in safety across our operations and recently started rolling out industry leading camera-based safety technology across our delivery fleet. This technology will provide drivers real-time alerts to help them stay safe when they are on the road."

The company also included positive driver testimonials.

surveillance in warehouses as a contentious union election in the company's Bessemer, Alabama warehouse draws national attention to Amazon's working conditions.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Biden's White House reportedly pushed out and sidelined staffers who disclosed past marijuana use even in states where 

the drug is legal

gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta) 

3/19/2021

The White House reportedly pushed out some staffers for past marijuana use.

The Daily Beast reported that the moves blindsided some Biden aides.
While 14 states and D.C. have legalized recreational use, it's illegal at the federal level.

The White House under President Joe Biden has pushed out and sidelined some staffers for disclosing their past recreational use of marijuana, including in states that have legalized recreational use of the drug, the Daily Beast reported Thursday.

Three sources told the outlet that several staffers have had their employment status affected - including unexpectedly being asked to resign, pushed aside, or relegated to remote-work positions - after voluntarily disclosing recreational-marijuana use.

While 14 states and the District of Columbia have now legalized recreational use of the drug, marijuana possession is still a federal crime and is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"It's exclusively targeting younger staff and staff who came from states where it was legal," one person told the outlet.

Some staffers felt the White House pulled a bait and switch after the Biden administration indicated it, unlike past administrations, would waive the requirement for some high-level White House staffers who had used marijuana in a "limited capacity" to receive a top-secret security clearance.

In order to qualify for a top-secret security clearance, staffers must fill out the SF-86, a detailed form that asks about past drug use, among other things. Making false statements on the form is a felony.

The White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted on Friday morning that "as a result" of the White House changing its posture on marijuana use for top staffers, "more people will serve who would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use."

She added: "The bottom line is this: of the hundreds of people hired, only five people who had started working at the White House are no longer employed as a result of this policy."

It is unclear how many were asked to resign or pushed aside for other factors or discrepancies on their background check in addition to their marijuana use.

Biden himself changed his tune on marijuana legalization after previously taking a hard-line stance on drugs during his time in the US Senate. Biden was one of the key shepherds of a controversial 1994 crime bill and said in a 2001 Senate hearing that he believed local officials should criminalize rave parties and "lock up" promoters in an effort to crack down on ecstasy.

A White House spokesperson told the Daily Beast that the administration is "committed to bringing the best people into government-especially the young people whose commitment to public service can deepen in these positions."

"The White House's policy will maintain the absolute highest standards for service in government that the president expects from his administration, while acknowledging the reality that state and local marijuana laws have changed significantly across the country in recent years," the spokesperson said. "This decision was made following intensive consultation with career security officials and will effectively protect our national security while modernizing policies to ensure that talented and otherwise well-qualified applicants with limited marijuana use will not be barred from serving the American people."

The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Insider.

French artist JR unveils new 28-meter-high optical illusion in Italy

Leah Dolan, CNN 3/19/2021

Street artist JR, known for the larger-than-life photographic installations that took over Rio de Janerio during the 2016 Olympics, has now unveiled a towering optical illusion in Florence, Italy.

© Courtesy JR La Ferita

The major installation revealed today is located at the Palazzo Strozzi, a historic cultural arts center in the heart of Florence.

The 91-foot spectacle, titled "La Ferita," or "The Wound," scales the Palazzo's Renaissance façade and simulates a giant gaping hole in the front of the building. Inside the architectural tear is an imagined vision of the Palazzo's interior, made real by a black and white photographic collage.

JR began his career at age 13 as a graffiti artist in France. His work, which has been exhibited on staircases, train carriages and even atop the Louvre, is a fusion of street art and photography. In his 2015 book "Can art change the world?" JR writes, "Images are not special. It is what you do with them." JR's readiness to place context above content has brought him international acclaim.

© Courtesy JR "28 Millimètres" is part of JR's Women Are Heroes series in Rio de Janeiro, 2008

His latest installation explores how access to art and culture has been jeopardized by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Walking through Florence feels strange these days -- without the visitors that make up such a normal part of the life of Florence, it feels quiet and less vibrant," JR said in a statement to CNN Style. "Without being able to enter a museum, to attend a concert or spend time at an exhibition, we realise that it is culture that gives life its colour and that the beauty of our city is activated by the people that pass through it, soak up the history and culture of Florence, and leave enriched by it."

The illusory gash across Palazzo Strozzi symbolizes the wound all cultural sites have sustained due to ongoing pandemic restrictions. The art industry has been devastated by the ongoing shutdown of museums, galleries, libraries, theaters and cinemas -- with even the most revered institutions struggling to get back on their feet. Last May, the historic Shakespeare's Globe theater in London revealed it faced insolvency and permanent closure as a result of lockdown

 measures.

© ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images French artist JR poses during the unveiling of his visual installation "La Ferita."

"("La Ferita") makes visible the deep impact of Covid-19 on culture," says JR.

The installation also launches the Palazzo Strozzi's new Future Art Programme, which hopes to support the creation and promotion of contemporary art in Italy with an annual public art commission to be revealed in Florence every spring.

In a press statement, Palazzo Strozzi Director Dr. Arturo Galansino said the center has a "unique" determination to "forge a dialogue between the classic and the contemporary through the involvement of artists capable of interpreting the present."

"So it is apt that we launch the Programme with JR's new work 'La Ferita,'" he added, "(which is) a powerful reflection on the difficult conditions surrounding access to culture in the age of Covid-19, but also a symbol of freedom, creative imagination and participation and an opportunity to involve the audience, the public at large, in a totally new way."

NO MENTION OF UBI*
Ottawa should review employment insurance, benefit triggers as economy recovers: IMF
3/18/2021

TORONTO — Canada's economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic has earned praise from the International Monetary Fund, but the global lender also has recommendations for future government spending. 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Canadian government and Bank of Canada's response to the pandemic was "timely, decisive and well-co-ordinated," the IMF said in a new report released on Thursday. In particular, the organization said Canada's economy would have had a "harmful," "even larger collapse" without emergency benefit spending from the government, and that the Bank of Canada helped avoid major disruptions in financial markets and is striking the right balance on interest rates.

But Canada's response at both the federal and provincial levels also contributed to a "historically large fiscal deficit," although the report said Canada's net public debt is expected to remain low relative to other G7 countries.

"Economic and social restrictions put in place since March 2020 have helped to mitigate the first and the second wave of the virus, but they came at significant cost," the report said, noting that the economic rebound slowed during the second wave of COVID-19 infections and "Canada still needs to boost its productivity."

The IMF report suggests Canada should do a broader review of its employment insurance system to address gaps in eligibility after the Canada Emergency Response Benefit ended. CERB and the wage subsidy program had flaws during the initial rollout, the report said, with workers fearing the loss of full CERB payments after earning $1 more than $1,000 per month cap, and the initial thresholds for the wage subsidies became a hurdle for businesses.

"The crisis exposed gaps in Canada’s social safety net that should be addressed," the report said. "The lessons from the crisis represent an excellent opportunity to review the EI system."

The report's authors suggest that Canadian officials could reduce uncertainty for consumers and businesses by tying the expiration of emergency benefits to an automatic trigger like the unemployment rate, instead of arbitrarily announcing the end of such measures.

"Benefits that abruptly expire complicate planning decisions and could increase precautionary saving. This could delay the recovery and ultimately increase fiscal costs. Clear and credible communication of the exit strategy will be key," the report said.

The report also calls on Canadian banks to help prepare mortgage borrowers for higher interest rates down the road.

"Even well-intended measures — like direct subsidies and tax deductions — can have perverse effects on housing affordability by favouring those that can already afford to buy a house at the long-term disadvantage of those that cannot, thus worsening existing inequalities," the report's authors wrote.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the report's findings with the IMF on Thursday, as well as the need international support for Caribbean nations, according to a government summary of a conversation between Trudeau and Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021.

Anita Balakrishnan, The Canadian Press

*UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

 Canadian cannabis companies are cheering the reintroduction of the SAFE Banking Act to the U.S. House of Representatives today.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The act proposes offering safe harbour to financial institutions like banks and insurance companies, who provide services to cannabis businesses and has long been seen as helpful for Canadian pot companies looking to expand to the U.S.

The National Cannabis Industry Association says the bill was previously approved by the house in a 321-103 vote in September 2019 and then headed to the senate, but didn't move forward and had to be tabled again because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. says in a statement that it sees the reintroduction as a step in the right direction and it is optimistic more cannabis-friendly legislation will soon follow.

The Edmonton-based company says it will keep assessing opportunities to participate in the U.S. cannabis market while it awaits the bill's reintroduction to the senate and its potential adoption.

Canopy Growth Corp. vice-president of international government relations David Culver says in an email that he sees the bill as integral to the success of the cannabis industry and essential for positively impacting social equity.

NATIONALIZE BIG OIL

Chevron Canada to stop funding further feasibility work Kitimat LNG project


CALGARY — Chevron Canada Ltd. says it will stop funding further feasibility work on its proposed Kitimat LNG project on B.C.'s north coast.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The company holds a 50 per cent stake in the project in a joint venture with Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

Chevron, which is the project operator, put its interest up for sale in December 2019, but has failed to find a buyer.

When the company put its stake up for sale, Chevron said it would continue to work with Woodside on agreed project activities that brought value or were required for regulatory and operational compliance.

But in a statement on its website this week, Chevron says that it now plans to stop Chevron-funded further feasibility work.

The project includes upstream resource assets in the Liard and Horn River Basins in northeast B.C., the proposed 471-km Pacific Trail Pipeline and plans for a natural gas liquefaction facility at Bish Cove near Kitimat, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2021

ONCE AGAIN AMEIRCA'S BRANCH PLANT Exclusive: U.S. looks to Canada for minerals to build electric vehicles - documents

By Ernest Scheyder and Jeff Lewis

© Reuters/Mohammad Khursheed FILE PHOTO: An electric vehicle fast charging station is seen in the parking lot of a Whole Foods Market in Austin

(Reuters) - The U.S. government is working to help American miners and battery makers expand into Canada, part of a strategy to boost regional production of minerals used to make electric vehicles and counter Chinese competitors.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce held a closed-door virtual meeting with miners and battery manufacturers to discuss ways to boost Canadian production of EV materials, according to documents seen by Reuters.

A source who attended the meeting said there was no indication that the Commerce Department would offer financial incentives for new mines or other supply chain components in Canada.

But department officials did stress the need to act now to build a U.S.-Canada EV supply chain, much like Europe has been doing and Asia has already done, according to a second source who attended the meeting.

The move comes as demand for electrified transportation is set to surge over the next decade.

Conservationists have strongly opposed several large U.S. mining projects, leading officials to look north of the border to Canada and its supply of 13 of the 35 minerals deemed critical for national defense by Washington.

Tesla Inc, Talon Metals Corp and Livent Corp were among the more-than 30 attendees at Thursday's meeting who discussed ways Washington can help U.S. companies expand in Canada and overcome logistical challenges, according to the documents.

The U.S. Department of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment.

The event comes after U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed last month to building an EV supply chain between the two countries.

Since Biden's election, three U.S. mining companies have invested in Canada, where mining accounts for 5% of the country's gross domestic product, versus roughly 0.9% in the United States.

Canada's Fortune Minerals Ltd, which is developing a cobalt mine in the Northwest Territories, has also held funding talks with the U.S. Export/Import Bank, its chief executive told Reuters.

"The United States is really taking this seriously," CEO Robin Goad said.

Lithium-ion batteries are dangerous to transport over long distances, so automakers prefer to have them built near assembly plants. That should aid efforts by Ontario and Quebec to develop their own battery cell plants with both provinces close to U.S. automakers in Michigan and Ohio, industry executives said.

"The border between Canada and the U.S. is inconsequential with respect to EVs and EV minerals," said Arne Frandsen, CEO of mining investment group Pallinghurst, which is the largest shareholder in Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc, which is building a graphite mine and an anode plant in Quebec.

Pallinghurst joined Livent last November to buy the Nemaska lithium project in Quebec, in what will be North America's largest lithium mine. Both projects are slated to open by 2024 just as automakers launch dozens of new EV models.

"We do see Canada as a natural fit for expansion as the whole battery supply chain is going through a huge self-reckoning about sourcing," said Livent CEO Paul Graves.

Livent has supply deals with BMW and Tesla.

'51ST STATE'

To be sure, the United States is also trying to boost domestic production of EV metals, which the Biden administration has said is critical.

But Washington is increasingly viewing Canada as a kind of "51st State" for mineral supply purposes and plans to deepen financial and logistical partnerships with the country's mining sector over time, according to a U.S. government source.

Both countries are members of the Energy Resource Governance Initiative, a pact to share mining experience and resources.

Canadian firms are also able to apply for U.S. government grants under the U.S. Defense Production Act and other U.S. funding programs. There are no U.S. tariffs on Canadian EV battery metals or EV parts.

"You're beginning to see Canada become an important part of the North American EV supply chain," said Keith Phillips, CEO of Piedmont Lithium Ltd, which in January bought 20% of Sayona Mining Ltd, a developer of a Quebec lithium project.

Canada's First Cobalt Corp is building the continent's only cobalt refinery, part of an effort to wean the EV industry off supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where child labor has been used. Cobalt is used to make battery cathodes.

Adding to the appeal of Canada, some of the country's mines bill themselves as environmentally friendly and promise to use hydroelectric power to reduce their carbon emissions.

The United States knows "that we are the most-secure and most-resilient source of metal imports for them," Canadian Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'Regan told Reuters.

Last week, privately-held USA Rare Earth invested in Search Minerals Inc's rare earths project in Newfoundland in eastern Canada.

While USA Rare Earth already controls a rare earths deposit in Texas, executives said they wanted access to more of the minerals used to make electronics and weapons.

"You can't just rely on projects in the U.S. for supply," said Pini Althaus, USA Rare Earth's CEO. "You have to collaborate with Canada."

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Editing by Amran Abocar, Aurora Ellis and Marguerita Choy)

Oilsands producer Suncor invests in carbon capture technology firm Svante

CALGARY — Suncor Energy Inc. says it is investing in carbon capture technology company Svante Inc. as it looks for ways to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions from its extensive oil and gas operations

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Suncor CEO Mark Little says its investment in Vancouver-based Svante will support the commercialization of a technology that could cut the cost of carbon capture, adding it will also be a collaborative partner.

Calgary-based Suncor has targeted an emissions intensity reduction from its petroleum production of 30 per cent by 2030 compared with 2014.

Svante says Suncor is taking part in a funding round generating US$25 million, bringing the total under its Series D financing to US$100 million.

It says it has attracted more than US$175 million in funding since it was founded in 2007 to develop its solid sorbent technology, which is to be used to capture carbon dioxide from flue gas, concentrate it, then release it for safe storage or industrial use, at half the capital cost of traditional engineered solutions.

Svante CEO Claude Letourneau says in a news release the company's potential projects would capture CO2 from natural gas industrial boilers, cement and lime operations and industrial hydrogen facilities, spurred by tax credits and carbon pricing in Canada and the U.S.

“Carbon capture is a strategic technology area for Suncor to reduce GHG emissions in our base business and produce blue hydrogen as an energy product," said Little.

"An investment in Svante is expected to support the acceleration of commercial scale deployment of a technology that has the potential to dramatically reduce the cost associated with carbon capture."

Hydrogen is considered to be blue if the GHG emissions from fossil fuels used in its creation are offset by emission reductions, while green hydrogen is made with renewable energy sources.

Svante says it also counts oilsands producer Cenovus Energy Inc. as an investor.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SU, TSX:CVE)

The Canadian Press

 A new survey from KPMG  shows that 54% of Albertans expect that their next vehicle purchase is  likely or very likely

to  be   electric .   

© Provided by Driving.ca

Though  still lagging behind  the national average of 68%,  that  more than half of Canada’s most oil – bound province  is  poised to  mak e  the turn  marks a noteworthy shift .   

According to  a report from   CTV News Calgary ,  Alberta averaged just shy of 223,000 annual new vehicle purchases over the past four years. Extrapolated forward  with a static 54% share ,   that should put  more than 600,000 new EVs on Alberta roads in the next five years.  Factor in greater EV exposure, acceptance, innovation, and  suburbanites’ need to keep  up with the Joneses, and th at   54%  is all but  certain to grow.   

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So, what about infrastructure?  With so many mountain and glacial flows  naturally  churning  along ,  Canada’s western provinces are   already  cap italizing  on their  surplus of hydroelectric opportunities .  Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is confident that the  province’s power grid will be able to meet demand, though they note that local distributors will  likely  be forced to  upgrade local transformers and infrastructure to handle residential delivery.   

CTV quotes an ENMAX VP as warning that “we could have the potential to overload residential area transformers, with just as many as two to three EV chargers plugged in charging at the same time in the same neighbourhood.” Given that 80 -plus-percent  of EV owners charge at home (usually in the hours shortly after work), r esearch programs are underway to assess  needs and strategies that might help to meet them.  Rapid infrastructure growth seems necessarily inevitable,   but   exploring   smart er   management  strategies could  pay serious dividends down the line.   

Whether Alberta transitions to an Ontario-style peak-pricing system remains to be seen. The writing is clear, however: electric s are here to stay.   

U.S. green energy push sets global edible oils alight, raises food inflation fears

By Naveen Thukral and Gavin Maguire

© Reuters/Lim Huey Teng FILE PHOTO:

' A mini tractor grabber collects palm oil fruits at a plantation in Pulau Carey

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's green fuel push using edible oils is helping drive up vegetable oil prices that are already near record highs, hitting key cost-sensitive consumers in India and Africa and stoking global food inflation fears.


The United Nations' vegetable oils price index has rallied 70% since last June to nine-year highs after labour shortages at Asian palm plantations and bad weather in key sunflower, rapeseed and soybean hubs pinched edible oil output and cut inventories to 10-year lows.

The run-up in edible oil prices has helped fuel a rise in the UN's broader food price index to its highest since 2014, stinging consumers in developing countries and posing a challenge to policymakers trying to spur economic growth.

GRAPHIC: Edible oils lead the charge as global food prices push to multi-year highs -

 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/xklvyrnwmpg/FAOEdibleOilsMarch2021.png

A steep recovery in edible oil demand as consumers and businesses restocked following COVID-19 lockdowns has exacerbated the tightness, as has Biden's election win and promised 'Clean Energy Revolution' that looks set to ignite biofuel demand.

"There's been a new factor which has come after the election of President Biden that has projected higher demand for soyoil, which is 100% biodiesel," leading edible oils analyst Dorab Mistry said.

"Four refineries have already said that they will terminate refining fossil fuel (and) instead start producing vegetable oil based fuel."

GRAPHIC: Global edible oil output, demand, imports & stocks - 

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/bdwpkmzwlpm/GlobalEbileOilSupplyetc.png

The sharp price climb in all edible oils, which are critical for food preparation and in the daily diets of billions of people, is already hurting some consumers.

A 20% rise in palm oil prices in Myanmar since a Feb. 1 military coup is one of many troubling signs for vulnerable people there, the World Food Programme (WFP) said this week.

Pricier oils are also stifling demand in India, the top global vegetable oil buyer, and are expected to curb imports as consumers are forced to cut back despite moves to reopen the economy from COVID-19 lockdowns.

GRAPHIC: Myanmar food prices push higher after weeks of unrest following a Feb. 1 military coup -

 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/oakpelmalvr/WFPMyanmarPrices.png

"We were expecting a recovery in demand after the country opened up, but India's edible oil imports will remain at last year's level at 13.2 million tonnes," said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive officer of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil broker.

"Earlier, 2021 imports were forecast at 14 million tonnes but higher prices are leading to demand destruction."

GRAPHIC: Global veg oils march to multi-year highs on tight supply, rising demand; outperform fuel prices 

 https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/xegvbgodjpq/GloballVegOilPrices20Years.png

Malaysian palm oil futures, the price benchmark for the world's most-traded edible oil, have recently topped 4,000 ringgit per tonne for the first time since 2008.

Rapeseed oil has added roughly a quarter to its value this year, while Black Sea sunflower oil is up almost 30%. Soybean oil has jumped over 27% in 2021.

GRAPHIC: 2-year relative performance chart of global edible oils vs benchmark gasoil/diesel prices - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/nmovarqgapa/2YearVegoilsvsLGO.png

"There is this age-old argument about food versus fuel but no one dare talk about it as it is all about green energy now," Mistry, a director at Godrej International, told Reuters.

"It will take a long time, and noises from the developing countries, before people actually try to slow down the rate at which green energy is being produced."

Food consumers are already cutting back.

India's palm oil imports fell 27% in February from a year earlier to their lowest in nine months, a leading trade body said last week, reflecting a slowdown in domestic demand.

"We are also told by people who ship palm oil packed in tins that the demand from Africa has slowed down," Mistry added.

GRAPHIC: India’s palm oil imports drop in February after steep price rally - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/gjnvwoamgvw/IndiaPalmOilImportsMarch2021.png

With U.S. soybean inventories set to fall below 4 million tonnes this season from over 14 million last year, U.S. soy oil prices may stay strong for months longer, said Mistry.

But palm oil production in Asia is expected to climb from April onwards, which should help to cool the broader global vegetable oil market, he added.

GRAPHIC: Malaysia palm oil production set to rebound from recent 5-year low - https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/xegvbgjkapq/MalaysiaPalmProdMarch2021.png

Further out, the push for electronic vehicles will help limit the increased use of edible oil for biodiesel, said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

"Biodiesel is more likely to go into heavy transport, such as trucks and trains, as well as earth-moving and construction," he said.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Richard Pullin)