On 8 July 2013, Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) issued a default notice to Biopalm Energy Limited, part of the Siva Group. The company said: “EPO has, however, advised Biopalm that any dilution of shareholding that results from raising equity in EPO, due to Biopalm's failure to honour its Commitment, should, in EPO's view, result in a corresponding increase in EPO's share in LPD, which is, at present, held 50/50 by EPO and Biopalm as well as an award for damages for loss due to Biopalm's failure to honour its commitments under the Investment Agreement.”
Biopalm was earlier reported to have effective 63.3% stake in the Liberia palm plantation assets via a 50% JV and 13.5% stake in EPO. However, a report in Feb 2012 indicates it has a 26.71% stake in EPO, indicating an increase.
The Liberia plantation concession area is some 170,000 ha. Liberia is the centre of the largest scale oil palm FDI projects in Africa so far. Projects have been held up by land disputes. The other key players are Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum / Golden Agri.
*Please contact Khor Reports if you would like to get a copy of our info briefing on this matter, including profile of Siva Group, and various info collated on Equatorial Palm Oil.
News source:
Equatorial Palm Oil issues default notice to partner
8 July 2013 | 11:23am StockMarketWire.com
The board of Equatorial Palm Oil (PAL:AIM) has issued a written notice to its joint venture partner, Biopalm Energy Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian conglomerate, the Siva Group) setting out that Biopalm is in material breach of its obligations under the investment agreement signed between the parties on 10 December 2010. Biopalm is required under the Investment Agreement to arrange and/or contribute, either directly or through any member of its group, any external funding required by the joint venture company, Liberian Palm Developments Limited (up to a maximum of US$30,000,000). Notwithstanding Biopalm's obligations to fund LPD up to the Commitment amount, EPO intends to continue to fund LPD and its assets in the Republic of Liberia. EPO has, however, advised Biopalm that any dilution of shareholding that results from raising equity in EPO, due to Biopalm's failure to honour its Commitment, should, in EPO's view, result in a corresponding increase in EPO's share in LPD, which is, at present, held 50/50 by EPO and Biopalm as well as an award for damages for loss due to Biopalm's failure to honour its commitments under the Investment Agreement. EPO continues to negotiate and work with Biopalm regarding the Commitment with a view to an amicable solution being reached, but has reserved all rights to take action against Biopalm under the Investment Agreement. EPO shall make further announcements regarding the above, and its continued discussions with Biopalm, in due course. Story provided by StockMarketWire.com - See more at: http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/4628151/Equatorial-Palm-Oil-issues-default-notice-to-partner.html#sthash.cjyWmQnf.dpuf
This blog highlights news and views on markets, marketing, sustainability and political-economics of palm oil. Any views belong to the respective authors and do not represent that of any particular organization. I update this in my spare time. Since mid-2016, the more "comprehensive" news is available on customized request. Market news and big news continue to be updated. Thank you for reader interest that has generated over 130,000 page views in 2016.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
EU due to vote 10 July to limit food crops in biofuels
"EU continues to debate a plan cap the percentage of biofuels made from food crops, with a final vote due to occur on 10 July...Most of the environmental impacts cited in the EEA report are a result of deforestation, draining of peatlands and other land clearance for biofuels, together known as indirect land use change (ILUC)."
News articles include:
Biofuel crop mix 'not favourable for environment'. A report by the European Environment Agency found benefits vary significantly depending on the source of crops
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jul/03/biofuel-crop-mix-environment
EU votes on crucial cap on biofuels made from food crops. Campaigners fear lobbying by industry and farmers' unions will weaken plans to limit role of food crops in biofuels production
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jun/19/eu-votes-biofuels-food-crops
Sustainable palm oil: how successful is RSPO certification? The industry's certification body champions the multi-stakeholder approach, but it needs to move faster. Oliver Balch interviews the organisation's secretary general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/sustainable-palm-oil-successful-rspo-certification
News articles include:
Biofuel crop mix 'not favourable for environment'. A report by the European Environment Agency found benefits vary significantly depending on the source of crops
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jul/03/biofuel-crop-mix-environment
EU votes on crucial cap on biofuels made from food crops. Campaigners fear lobbying by industry and farmers' unions will weaken plans to limit role of food crops in biofuels production
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jun/19/eu-votes-biofuels-food-crops
Sustainable palm oil: how successful is RSPO certification? The industry's certification body champions the multi-stakeholder approach, but it needs to move faster. Oliver Balch interviews the organisation's secretary general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/sustainable-palm-oil-successful-rspo-certification
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Khor Reports' Palm Oil #3 newsletter: Trade tussles, corporate outlook, prices & more
KHOR REPORTS' PALM OIL JUL/AUG 2013, ISSUE 3: Trade tussles. Corporate: Who’s got the best prices & growth prospects? EU biodiesel: certification, anti‐dumping & ILUC. Nigeria worries about duty evaders. Better info on saturated fats & Vitamin E tocotrienols. Frontier expansion: Nigeria, Mindanao & more. Price outlook muted, eyes on China & crude oil.
View our newsletter here:
http://tinyurl.com/qzeqfgt
(**kindly note this was updated on 10 July 2013, including pg. 7 on average selling prices; earlier version was 2 July 2013).
Contents:
Indonesia’s four land bank issues.
Malaysia’s new minister.
Saturated fats targeted in standards setting.
Vitamin E tocotrienols.
EU biodiesel certificates.
Indonesia’s new customary forests.
SE Asia’s peat fire season – 20% in OP concessions?
Feature: Trade tussles: EU anti‐dumping duties, new sustainability rules, Argentina’s WTO move, TPPA & GM concerns; Nigeria’s palm protectionism.
Corporate outlook.
Nigeria investors & recent frontier plans.
Key vegetable oils.
Weather outlook.
CPO technical view.
Price charts - including Oil World's latest price view
View our newsletter here:
http://tinyurl.com/qzeqfgt
Contents:
Indonesia’s four land bank issues.
Malaysia’s new minister.
Saturated fats targeted in standards setting.
Vitamin E tocotrienols.
EU biodiesel certificates.
Indonesia’s new customary forests.
SE Asia’s peat fire season – 20% in OP concessions?
Feature: Trade tussles: EU anti‐dumping duties, new sustainability rules, Argentina’s WTO move, TPPA & GM concerns; Nigeria’s palm protectionism.
Corporate outlook.
Nigeria investors & recent frontier plans.
Key vegetable oils.
Weather outlook.
CPO technical view.
Price charts - including Oil World's latest price view
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Great Haze II: PSI measures for Malaysia and Singapore
Malaysia and Singapore offer lagging indicators for their air pollutant index reporting.
Malaysia air pollutant index
This can be found at this website: http://www.doe.gov.my/apims/
It reports Muar, Johor, 7am measure of an astonishing reading of 746 while southern Johor has readings ranging about 120-140. KL has readings just above 100 and Klang at 188.Note that these are 24-hour averaged figures.
The high reading for Muar is consistent with the information that the super dense haze zone has moved northward from Singapore, where it was positioned a few days ago:
And a few hours later:
source: http://www.weather.gov.sg/wip/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=PUB.1003.1&p_p_id=56_INSTANCE_UpLi&p_p_action=0&p_p_state=pop_up&p_p_mode=view
Singapore PSI readings
These can be found here: http://www.nea.gov.sg/psi/. However, the shift to 3-hourly average and then 24-hourly average reporting smooths out the results and turns this into a historical record. This makes the Singapore report less useful for members of the public who might want to avoid going out when the current actual PSI is particularly high.
Consistent with the shift northwards of the super dense smog haze zone, readings in Singapore have moderate and are now below 100.
Best practice note: Available 24-hour, 7 day a week; PM10 and PM2.5; real-time current PSI readings; forecast to provide alert of pollution episodes; and several historical ranges of indicators using 24-hour averaged statistical summaries.
Malaysia air pollutant index
This can be found at this website: http://www.doe.gov.my/apims/
It reports Muar, Johor, 7am measure of an astonishing reading of 746 while southern Johor has readings ranging about 120-140. KL has readings just above 100 and Klang at 188.Note that these are 24-hour averaged figures.
The high reading for Muar is consistent with the information that the super dense haze zone has moved northward from Singapore, where it was positioned a few days ago:
And a few hours later:
source: http://www.weather.gov.sg/wip/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=PUB.1003.1&p_p_id=56_INSTANCE_UpLi&p_p_action=0&p_p_state=pop_up&p_p_mode=view
Singapore PSI readings
These can be found here: http://www.nea.gov.sg/psi/. However, the shift to 3-hourly average and then 24-hourly average reporting smooths out the results and turns this into a historical record. This makes the Singapore report less useful for members of the public who might want to avoid going out when the current actual PSI is particularly high.
Consistent with the shift northwards of the super dense smog haze zone, readings in Singapore have moderate and are now below 100.
Best practice note: Available 24-hour, 7 day a week; PM10 and PM2.5; real-time current PSI readings; forecast to provide alert of pollution episodes; and several historical ranges of indicators using 24-hour averaged statistical summaries.
Great Haze II - burning concessions identified by Greenpeace
Great haze II - the blame game starts
It’ll be interesting to see which companies get investigated and possibly blamed for contributing to SE Asia's second great haze. The recently announced Indonesia list of names being investigated coincides with WRI's report which uses NASA data on fires overlaid on plantation concession maps (yellow highlighted names).
Foreign-owned and foreign-based Indonesian companies seem to be the focus of the first set of names announced. More companies will be named in days to come, presumably to include the locally based Indonesian names.
The Indonesian government had identified 8 Malaysian and 2 Singaporean based companies behind the forest burning in Sumatera. They are under investigation.
Malaysia-owned:
Singapore-based:
WRI's analysis with NASA fire data is worth looking at. Weblink: http://insights.wri.org/news/2013/06/peering-through-haze-what-data-can-tell-us-about-fires-indonesia.
WRI's analysis of NASA fire alert data during the recent period, finds that 48% of the fires were outside of concession areas, 27% in timber plantations, 20% in oil palm areas, 4% in protected areas and 1% in logging areas. The high proportion (nearly half) outside of concession areas differs from NGO assessments of an earlier SE Asian haze episode which only attributed 20% of "blame" on smallholder farmers. Does this imply that plantation practices have improved?
WRI provides a top 15-17 list with ranking of concession companies by the number of fire alerts in their areas. The oil palm list and the timber plantation lists are as follows:
Foreign-owned and foreign-based Indonesian companies seem to be the focus of the first set of names announced. More companies will be named in days to come, presumably to include the locally based Indonesian names.
The Indonesian government had identified 8 Malaysian and 2 Singaporean based companies behind the forest burning in Sumatera. They are under investigation.
Malaysia-owned:
- PT Langgam Inti Hiberida [KLAU RIVER ENT SDN BHD]
- PT Bumi Rakksa Sejati,
- PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation [SIME DARBY]
- PT Udaya Loh Dinawi,
- PT Adei Plantation [KLK]
- PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa [*NOT OWNED BY WILMAR - updated 23 June 2013]
- PT Multi Gambut Industri,
- PT Mustika Agro Lestari
Singapore-based:
- Asia Pulp & Paper
- APRIL
WRI's analysis with NASA fire data is worth looking at. Weblink: http://insights.wri.org/news/2013/06/peering-through-haze-what-data-can-tell-us-about-fires-indonesia.
WRI's analysis of NASA fire alert data during the recent period, finds that 48% of the fires were outside of concession areas, 27% in timber plantations, 20% in oil palm areas, 4% in protected areas and 1% in logging areas. The high proportion (nearly half) outside of concession areas differs from NGO assessments of an earlier SE Asian haze episode which only attributed 20% of "blame" on smallholder farmers. Does this imply that plantation practices have improved?
WRI provides a top 15-17 list with ranking of concession companies by the number of fire alerts in their areas. The oil palm list and the timber plantation lists are as follows:
Great haze II - the karmic winds of change? [report]
• The Southeast Asian haze is an annual, seasonal phenomenon that is now in its 17th year. The first event in 1997 can be dubbed “Great Haze I”, during which Singapore’s PSI measure peaked at 226. The 2013 enviro-pollution season can be regarded as “Great Haze II” with PSI reaching just over 400.
• In the previous haze episodes, NGO analysis placed responsibility (direct and indirect) at 65-80% on various types of corporate plantations and with 20% of responsibility on small farmers. The first 2-year Indonesia-Norway moratorium on deforestation and peat land development might have had an unintended consequence. Well-connected owners are thought to have received a slew of concessions to beat the moratorium deadline. They have been clearing the land. Now, Indonesian authorities say they think that 32 company concessions are on fire. Eight thought to be involved in starting fires have been identified and their names will be released in the coming days.
• While the gloomy view is that little real action will be taken, we think that the mood is different from the approach taken back in the late 1990s – early 2000s. Will Singapore continue to leave it to the Indonesian authorities to solely deal with any Singapore-invested plantations found with open fires in their concessions? Or will these karmic winds that inflict the haze upon Singapore, bring a change in policy?
Please access our analysis here: http://tinyurl.com/mnzuc6h
• In the previous haze episodes, NGO analysis placed responsibility (direct and indirect) at 65-80% on various types of corporate plantations and with 20% of responsibility on small farmers. The first 2-year Indonesia-Norway moratorium on deforestation and peat land development might have had an unintended consequence. Well-connected owners are thought to have received a slew of concessions to beat the moratorium deadline. They have been clearing the land. Now, Indonesian authorities say they think that 32 company concessions are on fire. Eight thought to be involved in starting fires have been identified and their names will be released in the coming days.
• While the gloomy view is that little real action will be taken, we think that the mood is different from the approach taken back in the late 1990s – early 2000s. Will Singapore continue to leave it to the Indonesian authorities to solely deal with any Singapore-invested plantations found with open fires in their concessions? Or will these karmic winds that inflict the haze upon Singapore, bring a change in policy?
Please access our analysis here: http://tinyurl.com/mnzuc6h
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