12/12/05 Tawau (Daily Express News)  -  Tawau Agriculture Club Chairman Teo Kim Sang has urged the Government to consider reducing the sales tax in the State to five per cent from 7.5 per cent until the price of crude palm oil (CPO) hits the RM1,500 per metric tonne mark.

According to him, the current rate could only result in marginal profits for most smallholders who had to bear with increasing costs of production stemming from rising fertiliser and diesel prices as well as labour charges.

He pointed out that young oil palm estates (less than five years) were experiencing losses at the current price of RM1,000 per metric tonne, meaning that the fresh fruit brunch is around RM170,000 per metric tonne.

He claimed that the young estate could produce six metre tonnes of FFB per acre per year, generating a revenue of RM1,190 against the total input cost of RM1,200 a year.