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PALM OIL INDUSTRY: Detrimental to Farmers, Government Seeks Ways to Dissolve IPOP

22

Mar

PALM OIL INDUSTRY: Detrimental to Farmers, Government Seeks Ways to Dissolve IPOP

The Director General of Plantation at the Agriculture Ministry, Gamal Nasir, said the government was determined to dissolve IPOP. A legal basis is [...]

PALM OIL INDUSTRY: Detrimental to Farmers, Government Seeks Ways to Dissolve IPOP. The Director General of Plantation at the Agriculture Ministry, Gamal Nasir, said the government was determined to dissolve IPOP. A legal basis is required because IPOP continues to operate in Indonesia despite having received a warning letter.
“They are banned from operating in Indonesia, we will seek a legal basis. A discussion is currently being held with the relevant agencies regarding whether a new regulation should be made or we should use existing regulations,” Gamal said on Monday (21/3/2016).
Gamal said that he hoped an administrative letter such as a ministerial decree could be issued to facilitate the swift dissolution of IPOP. However, he is still discussing the legal basis for this with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham).
Bisnis noted that the government has been vocal in expressing its opposition to the implementation of IPOP since the middle of last year. This is because, since IPOP was implemented, many farmers have complained that their products are no longer being purchased by companies because they are considered to be sourced from unsustainable practices.
IPOP or the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge is a commitment by actors in the palm oil sector to apply environmentally-friendly practices in their production activities. Members are banned from cultivating palm in areas with high carbon stock and on peatland.
IPOP is one of the agreements born from a discussion entitled Sustainable Development: The Indonesian Way of Doing Business in the New Millennium at the UN 2014 Climate Summit, which was initiated by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York on 24 September 2014.
Four companies participated in the first signing: Golden Agri Resources Ltd, Wilmar International Ltd, Cargill, and Asian Agri. In March 2015, Musim Mas expressed its willingness to join, and in late February, Astra Agro Lestari also joined.
Since IPOP was implemented, a number of government officials, including those from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, have indeed questioned this commitment. This is because the IPOP agreement is deemed to have complicated the supply of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) from farmers.
In several regions, it was reported that farmers were unable to sell their FFBs because they were suspected of having been grown on peatland. This is detrimental to farmers whose purchasing power has already been eroded by the weakening global commodity prices.
Gamal said that the government will soon dissolve the management of IPOP. “So that Indonesian companies will no longer operate it — in the form of a letter from a certain minister who has the authority so that our legal basis is strong,” Gamal said.
He had also previously written to the management of IPOP asking them to cease operations, but the warning was ignored.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Palm Oil Farmers Association (Apkasindo), Asmar Arsjad, said that farmers are awaiting steps by the government to dissolve IPOP as the company has reduced its purchases of farmers’ FFBs.

Editor : Yusuf Waluyo Jati

http://industri.bisnis.com/read/20160321/99/530176/industri-sawit-rugikan-petani-pemerintah-cari-cara-bubarkan-ipop

CPO PRICES ON 21 MARCH: Reaching Rp8.7 Million/Tonne, a Two-Year Record

22

Mar

CPO PRICES ON 21 MARCH: Reaching Rp8.7 Million/Tonne, a Two-Year Record

June 2016 CPO futures, the most actively traded contract on Bursa Malaysia, opened 0.22% lower at 2,673 ringgit per ton. The commodity then [...]

CPO PRICES ON 21 MARCH: Reaching Rp8.7 Million/Tonne, a Two-Year Record. June 2016 CPO futures, the most actively traded contract on Bursa Malaysia, opened 0.22% lower at 2,673 ringgit per ton.
The commodity then immediately turned higher by 0.41% to 2,690 ringgit or Rp 8.69 million per ton at 10:14 Indonesia Western Time. CPO has continued to strengthen after rising 0.94% last weekend to 2,679 ringgits, the highest price for the most active contract since April 2014.
The rally in CPO throughout last week was triggered by higher crude oil prices. Higher oil prices can support the Indonesian biodiesel program and boost CPO consumption at home.
WTI crude oil prices were down 1.12% to US$ 39 per barrel at 10:18 Indonesia Western Time, correcting after climbing above US$ 40 per barrel last Thursday. The oil price has risen almost 40% since reaching a 12-year low in mid-February.
The movement of the ringgit on the forex market has provided an additional boost to the movement of CPO prices. The ringgit had dropped 0.5% to 4.0738 per US dollar at 10.35 WIB on the spot market after three consecutive days of appreciation.

Price movement of June 2016 CPO contracts

Date

Level

Change

21/3/2016(10.14 WIB)

2.690

+0.41%

18/3/2016

2.679

+0.94%

17/3/2016

2.654

+1.65%

16/3/2016

2.611

+0.04%

15/3/2016

2.610

+0.81%

Source: Bloomberghttp://market.bisnis.com/read/20160321/94/530047/harga-cpo-21-maret-dekati-rp87-jutaton-tertinggi-2-tahun

22

Mar

US dollar gains on hawkish Fed remarks

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said Monday that "there is enough positive momentum in the economic data to justify another move at [...]

US dollar gains on hawkish Fed remarks. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said Monday that `there is enough positive momentum in the economic data to justify another move at one of the upcoming meetings, possibly as early as the gathering scheduled for April.`His words were echoed by San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams. `All else equal, assuming that things stay pretty much on track and the data flow continues to come in as expected and forecast, then certainly April or June would be potential timing for a rate increase,` Williams said Monday.The greenback jumped against major currencies after the hawkish comments. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.24 percent at 95.310 in late trading.On the U.S. economic front, total existing-home sales decreased 7.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million units in February from 5.47 million in January, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1248 U.S. dollars from 1.1270 U.S. dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4396 U.S. dollars from 1.4480 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7595 U.S. dollar from 0.7602 U.S. dollar.The U.S. dollar bought 111.86 Japanese yen, higher than 111.57 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.9697 Swiss franc from 0.9692 Swiss franc, and edged up to 1.3067 Canadian dollars from 1.3020 Canadian dollars, Xinhua reported.    (A026)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
http://www.antaranews.com/berita/551241/dolar-as-menguat-didorong-pernyataan-pejabat-fed?utm_source=topnews&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=news

HIPMI Jaya: If Companies Want to Develop, They Must Go Public

21

Mar

HIPMI Jaya: If Companies Want to Develop, They Must Go Public

The Chairman of Hipmi (Young Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association) Jaya’s Economy, Finance -and Banking Division Tri Antoro Muliawan stated that [...]

HIPMI Jaya: If Companies Want to Develop, They Must Go Public. The Chairman of Hipmi (Young Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association) Jaya’s Economy, Finance  -and Banking Division Tri Antoro Muliawan stated that there must be transparency in running  business to escalate progress. Currently, there are many business owners who are afraid of going IPO, because doing so requires transparency.
`If you wish to enhance progress, you shouldn’t be closed-minded,` Tri said Monday (21/3/2016).
In order to encourage companies to go IPO, Tri said that there is an obstacle faced, namely the fact that the companies are family businesses or have been handed down from one generation to another.
`Thus, there are people who wish to go IPO and those who do not. Family businesses will require family approval. However, if you choose the IPO option, progress will be faster. However, if you choose to develop it alone, progress might not be as fast as if you went IPO,` Tri said.
Tri did not deny that the majority of HIPMI Jaya’s members run family businesses. There are also business owners in the Micro-Small-and-Medium Enterprises (SMME) sector whose capital is still relatively small.

Writer: Seno Tri Sulistiyono
Editor: Sanusi
http://www.tribunnews.com/bisnis/2016/03/21/hipmi-jaya-kalau-perusahaan-mau-berkembang-harus-ipo

ICE Sugar Slightly Lower at End of Week, Still Up Almost 6 Percent for Week

21

Mar

ICE Sugar Slightly Lower at End of Week, Still Up Almost 6 Percent for Week

Raw-sugar futures for May delivery rose as much as 16 cents a pound. Prices across the broader commodities complex were lifted Friday by a more [...]

ICE Cocoa Ends Week Marginally Higher, Posts Nearly 2% Weekly Gain

21

Mar

ICE Cocoa Ends Week Marginally Higher, Posts Nearly 2% Weekly Gain

Cocoa futures rose as market concerns over a hot and dry start to the season reducing the size of West Africa’s mid-crop See: [...]

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