JCorp units not affected by floods
The Star
Thursday December 27, 2007
By ZAZALI MUSA
JOHOR BARU: Johor Corp (JCorp) says the current floods in Johor have not affected oil palm plantations under its public-listed subsidiaries, Kulim (M) Bhd and Sindora Bhd.
JCorp chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim said its estates in Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Kulai, Segamat and Sedenak were all spared.
To date, Kulim has 37,606ha of oil palm estates in Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Kulai, Segamat and Sedenak while Sindora has 6,273ha in Batu Pahat and Kluang.
“So, we are unlikely to revise our growth target for fresh fruit bunch (FFB) harvest for next year,” Ali told StarBiz after subsidiary Damansara Realty Bhd’s EGM yesterday.
Ali said only small parts of the estates were stagnated with water during the current raining season but harvesting work in these areas was still being carried out.
He said water stagnation in its estates in Johor was actually a normal occurrence, especially towards year-end and during rainy seasons.
Early this month, Kulim had forecast that its FFB production would increase from 1.35 million tonnes this year to 1.44 million tonnes next year.
Ali said Johor was lucky as the state was not badly affected by the current floods unlike in December 2006 and January 2007 “when everybody was caught unawares and unprepared.”
The floods would not have much impact on the price of crude palm oil (CPO) next year, he said, adding that it would not hit below RM2,000 a tonne.
“CPO still commands a good price and nobody can really predict what’s in store for plantation companies,” he added.
Market analysts had predicted that the bullish run for CPO would likely be over next year but JCorp was still positive on the oil palm business, he added.
