Pertamina to Part Ways with Saudi Aramco in Cilacap?
The development of the projects that are parts of PT Pertamina’s Refining Development Masterplan Program (RDMP) has not gone forward as smoothly expected. One of the stalled projects is the upgrading of Refinery Unit IV Cilacap, for which Pertamina had signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco. Pertamina said that they are reviewing their options for the sake of accelerated development.
Cement Market & Public Housing Projects
Domestic cement market grew 2.5% year-on-year to 3.6 million tons last month, thanks to strong growth outside Java as Java suffered 3.7% fall. July sales was 29% below June 2016 due to two weeks of Lebaran holidays in the month.
Developing Downstream Minerals Processing
A few months back, we spoke to 31 members of the House of Representatives (DPR)’s Commission VII, the Commission tasked with supervision energy affairs, and asked about their stance in mineral export. Over 95 percent of them said that mineral export ban had to be imposed with no exception. And this, the lawmakers said, would be one of the crucial points to be included in the amendment of Law No.4/2009 on Minerals and Mining.
Revision of Government Regulation No.79/2010
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is set to revise the Government Regulation (PP) No 79/2010 on Cost Recovery and Income Tax for Upstream Oil&Gas. The revision is considered an urgent business for the rules set in said PP have been considered counterproductive to investment.
Toll Road Projects Update
Development of Medan-Binjai toll road in North Sumatra province gained traction with payment of land compensation in two sections on August 12. Physical construction of Section III of the toll road has been completed 60.54% by August 19, while Section II has reached 43%. A month ago, physical contruction of Section III and II reached 52.8% and 36% respectively. Accordingly, we can expect commercial operation of this toll road next year.
Recent Dynamics in the Revision of the Minerals and Mining Law
Ever since the amendment of Law 23/2014 on Regional Governments was passed, the Indonesian Government has been faced with the pressing need to also amend Law 4/2009 on Minerals and Mining, and Law 32/2004 on Regional Autonomy. Recall that Law 4/2009 and Law 32/2004 place the authority for granting mining concessions on regents and mayors, whereas governors only have the authority to grant concessions on cross-boundary mining. The newly-amended Law 23/2014, on the other hand, revoked the authority of regents and mayors to grant mining concession, and return the authority to the Central Government, by way of Governors. For the sake of legal certainty, amendments must be passed. But even though the amendment of Law No.4/2009 has been included in the 2016 legislative priority list, discussions have not progressed far enough.
XL Axiata vs Peers
Shares of XL Axiata (EXCL) collapsed 8.3% Tuesday (Aug 23) morning as investors responded negatively the Company’s first half results. The third largest cellular provider booked net profit of Rp225 billion against net losses of Rp851 billion in the first half of 2015, but sales revenue slipped 2.1%.
Waiting for Arcandra Tahar’s Replacement
Luhut Binsar Panjaitan remains the Acting Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) today. But as Luhut has himself said, he can’t do this job while serving as Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs. A new Minister of ESDM must be appointed. But where are we now with this?
BIG JOKE! Inti Agri Resources = 40 x Equity
Consumer goods giant Unilever Indonesia (UNVR) is probably the most ‘valuable’ company listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Its current market value of Rp346 trillion is 71 times equity as of June 30, 2016 (Rp7.6 trillion). Some consider it is fairly valued because of its annualized return on equity (ROE) of above 100% over the years.
Uber and GrabCar Under Pressure
Today, you should expect a severe traffic congestion in downtown Jakarta. First, Indonesian Badminton athletes Tontowi Yahya and Liliyana Natsir, who had won gold in the Rio Olympics, is set to arrive at the Soekarno-Hatta airport later this afternoon. The Ministry of Youth of Sports will give them a hero’s welcome, which includes parading the pair along the Sudirman street on their way to the State Palace. Second, around one thousand “online taxi” drivers are reportedly set to stage a protest in front of the Ministry of Transportation and the State Palace also today. The one event that is of our interest is the “online taxi” protest. What on earth is going on?