Indonesia\'s Palm Oil Output to Rise Over 35 Percent
24/10/2011 (Business Recorder) - Palm oil output at Indonesia's Bakrie Sumatera will rise by more than 35 percent this year to 300,000 tonnes, Ambono Janurianto, chief executive at the planter, said on Thursday Earlier this year, the Bakrie Group's agricultural unit forecast 2011 output at 280,000 tonnes compared with 220,000/230,000 tonnes last year.
The production rise was due to some plantations coming into peak yield, Janurianto said in February.
The majority of Bakrie Sumatera's estates are located in the island of Sumatra, and since early 2007 the company has expanded into Central Kalimantan.
Jakarta-listed Bakrie Sumatera is one of Indonesia's oldest plantations companies, with a history dating back to 1911.
"This year production is in line with the target of 300,000 tonnes.
But we don't know in the future as all land is affected by the moratorium, thus we can't expand the land yet," Janurianto told reporters.
Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, is seen as a key player in the fight against climate change and is under intense international pressure to curb its rapid deforestation rate and destruction of carbon-rich peatlands.
A moratorium on new permits to clear forests in Indonesia, came into force in May for an initial two years.