• Antara News reported that PT Astra Agro Lestari is developing digital services to make the process of selling fruit to the factory more efficient, effective and convenient for palm oil farmers. The development is in line with the digitalisation programme implemented by Astra Agro over the last few years, including the creation of the Partnership Information System Application (Siska) 2.0, which was released in January. At the beginning of this year, Astra also introduced the Delivery Schedule Booking feature, which will shorten waiting times for unloading with the help of an integrated queuing system, to make it easier for partners to arrange fruit delivery schedules to Astra Agro factories.

• Asia News Network reported that to boost supplies and contain prices of essential goods during the month of Ramadan, the Bangladesh government has reduced value added tax and import duties on edible oil, sugar, dates and rice effective on 8 February. However, the impact of these measures was not felt in the market. Traders said that the price of palm oil has gone up by Tk100 (taka) in a week and is now being sold at Tk4,950. A dates importer said that he faced problems in opening letters of credit due to a shortage of USD.

• Bloomberg reported that the world’s biggest producer of nitrogen fertiliser for corn and other crops posted sharply lower quarterly net profit and sales as prices tumbled. CF Industries Holdings’ 4QFY23 sales dropped 40% from a year earlier to US$1.6bil. Net income plummeted to US$1.44/share from US$4.35/share and missed consensus estimate of US$1.60/share. Results have suffered as fertiliser prices dropped from record highs in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threw global supplies into a disarray. CF is optimistic about this year, however, predicting better US agriculture profits as lower grain prices are offset by less costly farm inputs.

• According to Bloomberg, also, Singapore’s government plans to introduce a levy on air passengers to pay for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The government said that the levy will be based on factors such as flight distance and class of travel. Singapore said that all flights leaving the country must use 1% SAF from 2026F, gradually rising between 3% and 5% by 2030F. The SAF levy could increase the economy fare by S$3.00 from Singapore to Bangkok and S$16 from Singapore to London.

Source: AmInvest Research - 26 Feb 2024