- Bumitama Agri Ltd (BAL) announced that it has lost the court appeal for its 4,810ha of land in East Kalimantan. BAL said the financial impact from the loss of the land would not be material.

- The group also said that in spite of the loss, it still has rights to all of the assets located on the land. Hence, BAL would be entitled to seek compensation if it is not allowed to gain access to the buildings and plants on the land.

- BAL may also seek to restore its investments in the land via negotiations with the new owner. The group may enter into a long-term land lease agreement with the new owner under which BAL will be entitled to manage the land for one planting cycle.

- During the court case, BAL’s legal counsel said that there were juridical defects in the previous decree. The warning letter should have been addressed to BAL’s unit and not another company. Also, the previous decree should have been submitted to government agencies in Central Kalimantan and not East Kalimantan.

- Wilmar International released an update on its “No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation policy” last week. Wilmar has signed an MoU with Wild Asia to collaborate on an independent smallholder project. Apart from Wild Asia, The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) based in Netherlands, will also be a partner in the project.

- IDH will help fund the smallholder project. If successful, IDH will support scaling up the scope of the project to enrol more independent smallholders into the programme. In April 2014, Wilmar met up with investors and a group of Iban smallholders with a project area of 1,920ha to review the potential of a NCR project in Bintangor, Sarawak. Advice was provided on what would be required to comply with Wilmar’s policy.

- Bloomberg quoted Shandong Sunrise Grain and Oil Trading Ltd as saying that China’s soybean imports in 2015F may be higher than USDA’s (US Department of Agriculture) projections. Demand is expected to be underpinned by a fall in selling prices and curb on an alternative feed material made from corn.

- Inbound soybean shipments may climb to as much as 78mil tonnes from 1 October 2014 onwards compared with USDA’s estimate of 73mil tonnes. In June 2014, China imposed restrictions on imports of US dried distillers’ grains, which are made from corn. China suspended permits to import distillers’ grains as they may have a high risk of containing unapproved, genetically modified MIT 162 strain.

- Finally, Jakarta Post reported that GAPKI (Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association is lobbying for the export tax on refined palm oil to be reduced to zero percent. This was in response to a 37% YoY drop in Indonesia’s palm oil exports to India in 1H2014. Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said that the government will be assessing GAPKI’s request.

Source: AmeSecurities