Palm Oil Journal
Soybean oil advanced 1.13% on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday (May 30), while the benchmark August contracts of crude palm oil (CPO) jumped RM40 to RM2599 per ton earlier on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives.
M&A Update: Felda-BWPT
Market players anticipate closing of the long-delayed transactions between Malaysia’s plantation giant Felda Global Holdings and Indonesia’s Rajawali Corpora (owned by tycoon Peter Sondakh) related to shares in PT Eagle High Plantations (BWPT) Tbk and plantation assets of Rajawali Corpora.
On The Bottoming Out of Commodities (10)
WTI and Brent crude oil moved closer to US$50 per barrel on Nymex Wednesday (May 25) to respond falling supplies in the United States. They gained 2.3% and 2.65% respectively as the Energy Information Administration reported 4.2 million fall of crude oil supplies in US for the week ended May 20.
Wison-Shell & Indonesian Coal-to-Chemical Projects
Bisnis Indonesia newspaper quoted ministry of industry official this morning that Wison Engineering Services Ltd and Shell would work together in the development of coal-to-chemical plants in South Sumatra with US$7.3 billion. Will Indonesia finally have coal-to-chemical plants after so many investors announced such initiatives in the past 10 years or so?
Refinery Projects: Walk The Talk
Tens of investment licenses have been granted to develop oil refinery, countless of MoUs and letter of intents have been signed, but for more than two decades the country yet to see construction of a refinery. In the past few weeks, we read lots of news about refinery projects. Will this time be different?
Welcoming the First Smelter Grade Alumina
PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (WHWAR), a joint venture between Cita Mineral (CITA) and Hongqiao Group (China), has on Saturday, May 21, entered soft opening of the first unit of smelter grade alumina (SGA) in Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan province.
Jawa-1 Gas-Fired: An Update
Controversies surrounding tender of power plant projects under the 35,000 MW escalated recently with changes of terms and conditions for the giant 2×800 MW gas-fired power plant Jawa-1 project. State-owned electricity provider PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has earlier sparked controversies for stopping the tender for 2×1000 MW coal-fired power plant project Jawa-5.
Coal Journal
PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa (DSSA) Tbk, infrastructure company controlled by Sinarmas Group, has secured 10-year investment loan of US$265.7 million plus Rp45 billion of bank guarantee facility to support PT SKS Listrik Kalimantan (SLK), subsidiary of DSSA, in the development of power plant.
New Gas Price Policy
President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has finally signed Regulation No. 40/2016 about natural gas price, which would benefit at least seven industries, namely fertiliser, petrochemicals, oleochemicals, iron and steel, ceramics, glass, and rubber processing.
On The Bottoming Out of Commodities (9)
WTI crude oil advanced 3.3% to US$47.72 per barrel for June delivery in New York Monday (May 16) on supply concerns. Brent crude also gained 2.4% to US$49 per barrel, lifting shares of oil and gas producers worldwide. Reference price of Indonesian thermal coal for May 2016, however, retreated to US$51.2 per ton, ending two consecutive months of rally.