Another test of resilience
Says issues such as foreign labour, tax and subsidy, Indonesia's low CPO export tax regime, palm oil sustainability, and sustainability certification scheme as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be major considerations for the local players.He says the main challenge for the local palm oil industry is Indonesia's low CPO export duty structure, which gives the republic's processing sector lucrative returns via the competitive export price of its palm products.
It will be interesting to see whether the Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification standard will be launched next year, adds Mamat.
On foreign labour, the plantation sector is thinking of an alternative source to reduce dependency on workers from Indonesia, which also wants labour to develop its own palm oil industry.
“Many plantation players feel that the recruitment of foreign workers should be done fresh and direct from the source country and not those who are floating' in the urban sectors,” says Mamat.
The index for "Non-Food Articles" declined by 0.16 per cent due to the lower prices of castorseed, sunflower, flowers and mesta, while those of soyabean, raw silk, raw rubber and cottonseed increased. Annual rate of inflation under this category was