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Oil tumbles amid skepticism over output cuts

30

Nov

Oil tumbles amid skepticism over output cuts

U.S. benchmark, light sweet crude oil or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, retreated 1.85 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.23 dollars a [...]

Oil tumbles amid skepticism over output cuts. U.S. benchmark, light sweet crude oil or West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, retreated 1.85 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.23 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, the global benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery, decreased 1.86 dollars to close at 46.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.  Media reports said Tuesday that Iran and Iraq have resisted pressure from Saudi Arabia to cut their crude production, making it harder for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reach a global output reduction deal when it meets on Wednesday. An OPEC expert meeting in Vienna on Monday failed to bridge differences between OPEC de facto leader Saudi Arabia and the second and third-largest oil producers over the mechanism of an output cut, OPEC sources told Reuters. `Restoration of Iran's lost share of the oil market is a national will and demand of the Iranian nation,` Iran's Shana news agency quoted Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying before he is set to arrive in Vienna on Tuesday. OPEC, which accounts for about one third of global oil output, agreed in September to limit its output to between around 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day (bpd), compared with its current output of 33.64 million bpd, to support oil prices that have halved since mid-2014. Iran has argued that it wants to raise its output to regain market share lost while under Western sanctions, when its rival producer Saudi Arabia boosted output. In recent weeks, Riyadh has offered to cut its own output by 0.5 million bpd, according to OPEC sources, and has suggested a cap for Iran's production of less than 4 million bpd. Tehran has sent mixed signals, including that it wanted to produce 4.2 million bpd. Iraq has also pushed for a higher production ceiling, arguing it needs the extra revenue to help pay for its fight against Islamic State militants. The dispute between Iraq and Saudi Arabia centers on whether Baghdad should use its own production estimates when limiting its output or rely on lower figures from OPEC experts. Meanwhile, Russia has said it will not attend the main talks with OPEC on Wednesday in Vienna, Austria. Some analysts including Morgan Stanley and Macquarie have said oil prices could correct sharply if OPEC fails to reach a deal, potentially falling as low as $35 a barrel, according to Xinhua. (OO.A026)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
http://www.antaranews.com/berita/598949/harga-minyak-merosot-di-tengah-pesimisme-pengurangan-produksi?utm_source=topnews&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=news

Government Promotes Performance of Agro Industry with Partnership Pattern

29

Nov

Government Promotes Performance of Agro Industry with Partnership Pattern

“The strategic step made by the Ministry of Industry is to increase the integrated partnership program between industrial players and [...]

Government Promotes Performance of Agro Industry with Partnership Pattern. “The strategic step made by the Ministry of Industry is to increase the integrated partnership program between industrial players and farmers,” said the Director General of the Agro Industry at the Ministry of Industry Panggah Susanto in Jakarta, Monday (28/11/2016).
According to Panggah, the partnership pattern that links the core company with plasma farmers has quite a high economic power.
Because besides being able to overcome funding and farmer production quality obstacles, the partnership pattern will ensure the marketing and price level of farmers’ production results.
“The core company also receives big benefits, among other things they can market their products to their plasma partners or they get a raw material supply guarantee from their partners,” he said.
Therefore, Panggah continued, his party has encouraged industrial players to cooperate in partnerships with farmer groups.
`This will give optimal added value because the trading chain is more efficient,” he said.
Panggah said that several sub-sectors in the agro industry that have implemented quite a good integrated partnership pattern include the milk industry, palm oil downstream industry, sugar industry, and cocoa processing industry. '
'We are sure that this partnership pattern will encourage the growth of the national agro industry,” he said.
Based on BPS data, the agro industry grew by 6.64 percent up to the third quarter of 2016.
From the contribution side towards the non-oil and gas processing industry, the agro sector contributed 46.95 percent to the third quarter of 2016 or up compared to 2015 which was 45.42 percent.
“The role of the agro industry is contributed by the food and beverage industry sub-sector by 32.82 percent, the tobacco processing industry 5.17 percent, and the forestry and plantation products industry 8.95 percent,” Panggah said.
Meanwhile, the export value of the agro industry up to October 2016 reached 29.94 billion US dollars. Meanwhile, the value of domestic investment in the agro industry up to the first semester of 2016 was Rp. 10.68 trillion and foreign direct investment of 2.41 billion US dollars.

Author
: Pramdia Arhando Julianto

Editor
: M Fajar Marta

http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/2016/11/29/060000226/pemerintah.dorong.kinerja.industri.agro.dengan.pola.kemitraan

2017, Palm Oil Commodity Predicted to Still Fluctuate

25

Nov

2017, Palm Oil Commodity Predicted to Still Fluctuate

"The economic growth prospect for next year will at best be no better than this year, or even worse. This will affect the demand for and price of [...]

2017, Palm Oil Commodity Predicted to Still Fluctuate. `The economic growth prospect for next year will at best be no better than this year, or even worse. This will affect the demand for and price of commodities, including palm oil,` said Iwan at the 12th Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) 2016 at the Bali International Convention Center (BICC) Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday (24/11).

Iwan said, global economic growth next year is projected to be around only 3 percent or even below. Meanwhile, global economic growth this year is predicted to only reach around 3 percent or slightly above.

The sluggish global economic growth will definitely cause a number of countries that usually import crude palm oil (CPO) to reduce demand.

Automatically, low demand will cause CPO prices to fail to return to their glory days, which once reached US$750 per ton. However, Iwan refrained from predicting the CPO price range next year.

These three factors, said Iwan, are actually very compelling. This is because, Iwan noted, the CPO trade value has made a major contribution to global economic growth from the other side.

However, Iwan sees that there is still another potential, which, although not large, has an upward trend, namely the biofuel and biodiesel commodities.

`The opportunities are biofuel and biodiesel. But it depends on the target developed countries, because they want to abandon fossil fuels and substitute them with biofuel and biodiesel,` said Iwan.

Furthermore, said Iwan, this potential is still quite strong in the Indonesia-US trade relationship.

Unaffected by Donald Trump

Iwan said, the Indonesia-US biofuel and biodiesel trade has good potential in 2017. This is because the US is one of the countries that has a major interest in substituting fossil fuel use with more environmentally friendly ones.

He also dismissed the negative sentiment on the Indonesia-US trade, even though Donald Trump, the winner of the 45th US Presidential Election, prioritizes the import of fossil fuels.

`The private sector will drive the export of biofuel and biodiesel. Trump could change (from prioritizing the use of fossil fuels) because of pressure from the government to reduce US dependence on fossil fuels. It is inevitable, with Trump or without Trump, that biofuel and biodiesel will be prioritized,` explained Iwan. (gir)
https://cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20161125012721-85-175124/2017-komoditas-sawit-diprediksi-masih-kembang-kempis/

Minister Susi restructures KKP employees with “golden handshake

24

Nov

Minister Susi restructures KKP employees with “golden handshake"

"We made a golden handshake with great options,", said Minister Susi in the office of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, [...]

Minister Susi restructures KKP employees with “golden handshake". "We made a golden handshake with great options,", said Minister Susi in the office of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Jakarta, Wednesday.According to Susi, she has negotiated with the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reforms (KemenPAN-RB) to provide full incentives in the "golden handshake" program.According to the Minister, this could be a solution for employees who want to set up a medium-scale business.Susi revealed that she had successfully negotiated with the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reforms to provide a 100 percent allowance."This is an extraordinary success. The original value was only 25 percent. This is an achievement," she said.She believes that with the money from the golden handshake program, employees will be able to establish a medium-scale business.Susi revealed that from the results of the golden handshake program, 30 percent of the total vacancies for civil servants (PNS) will be given to outstanding young people from the best universities in Indonesia.On the same occasion, Susi also expressed concern over the current poor state of Indonesian politics in the last 1-2 months.This is considered to affect the state's financial situation and the growth of Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, he advised all Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries employees to economize in the use of the National Budget (APBN)."Let me remind you that we cannot afford to be skeptical about the budget. We should be concerned and come up with solutions for the state. I ask that unnecessary trips be curtailed," she said.Susi believes that if all ministries do this, the government can save around Rp300-400 trillion each year.She said that State Budget savings can also be allocated to community assistance, either in the form of goods or infrastructure development.
Editor: B Kunto Wibisonohttp://www.antaranews.com/berita/597837/menteri-susi-restrukturisasi-pegawai-kkp-dengan-golden-shakehand

Government asks for acceleration of palm oil rejuvenation

24

Nov

Government asks for acceleration of palm oil rejuvenation

"The increase of people's plantation productivity becomes priority, and the funding support from BPDP needs to be increased for the acceleration of [...]

Government asks for acceleration of palm oil rejuvenation. `The increase of people's plantation productivity becomes priority, and the funding support from BPDP needs to be increased for the acceleration of rejuvenation,` Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman uttered in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday. In 2016, BPDP-KS allocated a rejuvenation funding for 100,000 hectares of farmers' land. However, the absorption for the rejuvenation is still considered low because it is constrained by legality of land that is difficult to be fulfilled by people's farmers. The constraint is caused by the requirement set by BPDP-KS that the people's farmers who receive the oil-palm rejuvenation funding assistance should form a farmers group in order for the rejuvenation process to be more efficient. Moreover, farmers also need to establish a cooperative, and have a legal land title certificate and have the potential to obtain the Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil System (ISPO) certificate. The obstacle in increasing the productivity of people's plantation, Amran said, based on the Minister of Environment and Forestry, is due to overlapping with forest areas. The problem needs to be solved in order to provide legal certainty and acceptability by bank loans. `Meanwhile, for the oil-palm plantation in peatland, the implementation of sustainable peat management needs to be enhanced with the objective to increase productivity and prevent land fires,` Amran said. In addition, the government considered that the oil palm rejuvenation program can be carried out by integrating land either owned by farmers or company. The integration program takes form of oil-palm plantation integration with cow breeding and still using funding from BPDP-KS. It was recorded that during the period of January to August 2016, BPDP-KS had collected funds of Rp7.19 trillion from oil-palm export levy collection. While in July to December 2015, the collected funds amounted to Rp6.9 trillion, so that the total collected funds reached Rp14.1 trillion since the establishment of the agency in July 2015. BPDP-KS has channeled 71 percent of the total obtained funds for biodiesel subsidy program. Until June 2016, the total subsidy for biodiesel reached Rp6.52 trillion, so that the majority of funds released by BPDP-KS were for biodiesel subsidy and not for plant rejuvenation.In the period of July to December 2015, from the total amount of collected funds of Rp6.9 billion, the majority was used to pay for the biodiesel price difference subsidy. It was recorded that the biodiesel subsidy payment reached Rp467.21, research of Rp10.25 billion, and for the rejuvenation of only Rp623.5 million.
Editor: Ruslan BurhaniReporter: Vicki Febriantohttp://www.antaranews.com/berita/597853/pemerintah-minta-percepatan-peremajaan-sawit

PT. KPB Nusantara Conducts Tree Planting in Ragunan Wildlife Park

23

Nov

PT. KPB Nusantara Conducts Tree Planting in Ragunan Wildlife Park

as part of a series of activities for the 7th anniversary celebration themed "Caring for the Environment for a Better Tomorrow". This activity is a [...]

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