Commodity producers are always intent on increasing volumes, which leads to market prices dropping, taking the producer’s share price down in parallel. Take New Britain Palm Oil, which joined the full list in December 2007. It saw its share price more than double to over 600p as the palm oil price soared to $1,400 (£827) a tonne in May 2008, then tumble to below the flotation price of 250p alongside the market. The fall has been reflected in the interim profits, which were down from $68.1m to $41.9m after excluding the exceptional $52.9m gain from changes in the fair value of its biological assets (which ironically arose because of last year’s high palm oil prices). The company increased production from 154,000 to 175,000 tonnes, and is planning to add to its plantations, mainly in Papua New Guinea. However, its main market is Europe, and it will open a refinery in Liverpool next year to give it access to European food manufacturers.