The Star Online (25/03/2021) - Bumper harvest

CRUDE palm oil’s (CPO) huge 75% jump in prices over the past one year is a boon for planters, but experts are almost in unison in predicting that prices will come down in the second half of the year, as current production and supply disruptions in the global edible oil market began to ease.

At the two-day Virtual Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference 2021 earlier this week, experts predicted that CPO prices will average from RM3,300 a tonne to as high as RM4,100.

The benchmark CPO futures contract on Bursa Derivatives was traded at around RM3,900 a tonne yesterday.

The contract was traded above RM4,100 on March 15, its highest in more than a decade.

In Malaysia, palm oil output was projected to increase from 19.1 million tonnes in 2020 to 19.5 million tonnes in 2021, although the shortage of farm workers due to the pandemic remained the biggest worry for planters.

Indonesia, the world’s single-largest producer, is expected to increase output from an estimated 44 million tonnes in 2020 to 48 million tonnes in 2021.

Jalil buys a stake in BCorp, stock climbs

SHARES in Berjaya Corp Bhd climbed this week, as investors bet that new CEO Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed (pic below) will shake up Tan Sri Vincent Tan’s sprawling business group into a high-performing organisation.

And to prove that he is willing to put his money on it, BCorp on Wednesday announced that Jalil had acquired 70 million shares at 28 sen each.

The stock was last traded at 32 sen yesterday.

While the former fund manager has made a quick profit on his latest investment, he would probably be in it for the long haul.

On Wednesday, Jalil tweeted that he is laying the vision for the company moving forward and will be spending the next two months understanding the various businesses better.

He also tweeted that he believed “one must have skin in the game” when running companies.

Mokhzani assumes chairman role at Maxis

Maxis Bhd, the telecommunication company controlled by T. Ananda Krishnan, on Monday named Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir (pic below) as its new chairman.

The son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Mokhzani who is currently a senior executive director at Maxis will assume his new role on April 22, upon the conclusion of the company’s AGM.


Mokhzani, 60, is succeeding Tan Sri Raja Arshad Raja Tun Uda, 74, who will continue to serve the board as an independent director.

Mokhzani has held executive posts in Pantai Holdings Bhd, THB Industries Bhd, Tongkah Holdings Bhd and Kencana Petroleum Bhd.

He is also one of the co-founders of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, now known as Sapura Energy Bhd, together with Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin.

Mohkzani left Sapura Energy in 2017.

In a separate news, Sapura Energy said its CEO Shahril has officially retired from the company on Monday, on his 60th birthday.

The group is now helmed by Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, the former vice-president and head of upstream business of Petronas.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/03/26/the-week-that-was---oil-palm-berjaya-corp-maxis