In Indonesia, Asia Sentinel reported that the Indonesian government is seizing up to 2 million hectares of seized illegal oil palm forest, some of it possibly from Malaysia’s biggest oil palm companies which for years have expanded across the Strait of Malacca, and handing them over to a state-owned enterprise which specializes in palm oil management.
That has transformed the newly-created state-owned PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara, formed from another state-run entity, PT Indra Karya, into a major player in the palm oil industry despite having operated for only a few months, according to the report.
Although the Malaysian companies aren’t named, SD Guthrie Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, IOI Corp Bhd, and Genting Plantations Bhd all have extensive oil palm plantations in Indonesia. The Malaysia-based CIMB Securities said in a research note that Malaysian plantation companies are grappling with mounting regulatory risks after the government began seizing oil palm estates found to lack proper forestry permits or to be in breach of land-use laws, according to the report.
More on the story
Category: Food & Agriculture
