MARKET DEVELOPMENT
No Effect seen on Sabah's CPO
No Effect seen on Sabah's CPO
21/02/2014 (Daily Express) - The oil palm industry in Sabah does not face any serious problem in selling its Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from mills in the State unlike Sarawak which is expected to lose about RM400 million a year from next year.
Singapore-based Wilmar International Limited, which buys 45 per cent of the CPO produced by 41 mills in Sarawak, had written to the Sarawak government that it will stop buying CPO produced from oil palm trees planted in forest areas and peat swamp land in the State from 2015 onwards.
East Malaysia Planters' Association (EMPA) Chairman Datuk Othman Walat said there is no serious problem, so far, faced by Sabah in selling the CPO from mills in the State, including to Wilmar International Limited with which it also conducts business.
"The company buys our CPO produced by the oil palm plantations in Sabah but I do not have the information on how much it buys in metric tonnes.
"What I can confirm is that Sabah faces no serious problem similar to what the industry in Sarawak is facing now," he told Daily Express.
Last week, Sarawak Land Development Minister Datuk James Masing felt Wilmar International Ltd was influenced by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop buying its CPO.
Masing was quoted as saying that the directive from the company has a very disastrous effect on Sarawak as it will stop its poverty eradication programme in rural areas.
Although the decision would rob the State of RM400 million in revenue yearly, he said the State Government would not bow to such pressure and will continue to find ways and means on how to improve people's livelihood, especially the smallholders in the industry.
He said the State government would find other buyers from abroad, including from China and India, if Wilmar was firm in its decision.
Sarawak has 1.6 million hectares of peat swamp and many of those areas have been planted with oil palm.
Othman, who is also Sawit Kinabalu Group Managing Director, said Wilmar's decision would cause the price of CPO in Sarawak to decline. However, he believes that Sarawak would address the matter like looking other new markets abroad to sell its CPO.
On whether Sabah will gain from Sarawak's problem, Othman said any impact would be insignificant to Sabah due to the huge market for the industry.
"Wilmar is an international company based in Singapore and it has oil palm plantations in other countries like Indonesia and the peninsula.
"If the company is firm in its decision to stop buying CPO from Sarawak mills by 2015 onwards, the company has other choices to buy the CPO from.
"And it does not necessarily has to come from Sabah although most of the oil palm companies in the State are compliant to the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)," he said.
Singapore-based Wilmar International Limited, which buys 45 per cent of the CPO produced by 41 mills in Sarawak, had written to the Sarawak government that it will stop buying CPO produced from oil palm trees planted in forest areas and peat swamp land in the State from 2015 onwards.
East Malaysia Planters' Association (EMPA) Chairman Datuk Othman Walat said there is no serious problem, so far, faced by Sabah in selling the CPO from mills in the State, including to Wilmar International Limited with which it also conducts business.
"The company buys our CPO produced by the oil palm plantations in Sabah but I do not have the information on how much it buys in metric tonnes.
"What I can confirm is that Sabah faces no serious problem similar to what the industry in Sarawak is facing now," he told Daily Express.
Last week, Sarawak Land Development Minister Datuk James Masing felt Wilmar International Ltd was influenced by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to stop buying its CPO.
Masing was quoted as saying that the directive from the company has a very disastrous effect on Sarawak as it will stop its poverty eradication programme in rural areas.
Although the decision would rob the State of RM400 million in revenue yearly, he said the State Government would not bow to such pressure and will continue to find ways and means on how to improve people's livelihood, especially the smallholders in the industry.
He said the State government would find other buyers from abroad, including from China and India, if Wilmar was firm in its decision.
Sarawak has 1.6 million hectares of peat swamp and many of those areas have been planted with oil palm.
Othman, who is also Sawit Kinabalu Group Managing Director, said Wilmar's decision would cause the price of CPO in Sarawak to decline. However, he believes that Sarawak would address the matter like looking other new markets abroad to sell its CPO.
On whether Sabah will gain from Sarawak's problem, Othman said any impact would be insignificant to Sabah due to the huge market for the industry.
"Wilmar is an international company based in Singapore and it has oil palm plantations in other countries like Indonesia and the peninsula.
"If the company is firm in its decision to stop buying CPO from Sarawak mills by 2015 onwards, the company has other choices to buy the CPO from.
"And it does not necessarily has to come from Sabah although most of the oil palm companies in the State are compliant to the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)," he said.