USDA reports large declines in U.S. grains stocks, lifting prices for soybeans, corn and wheat
Published: Sept. 30, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. ET
By Myra P. Saefon

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday reported big declines in U.S. stocks of soybeans, corn and wheat from year-ago levels. The Grain Stocks report showed U.S. soybean stocks at 523 million bushels, down 42% from Sept. 1, 2019. Corn stocks were down 10% from a year ago at 2 billion bushels and all wheat stocks were down 8% at 2.16 billion bushels, the USDA data showed. The report revealed "unexpectedly large declines," leading to a rally in prices for the grains, said Sal Gilbertie, president and chief investment officer at Teucrium Trading. November soybeans SX20, +0.07% traded at $10.26 a bushel, up 33 cents, or 3.4%. December corn CZ20, +0.85% added 16 cents, or 4.4%, to $3.80 3/4 a bushel and December wheat WZ20, -1.42% added 30 1/2 cents, or 5.5%, to $5.80 a bushel.

The WRO does not have any material financial and operational impact on FGV Group

https://www.bursamalaysia.com/market_information/announcements/company_announcement/announcement_details?ann_id=3092680

It is worth reiterating that FGV does not tolerate any form of human rights infringements or criminal offense in its operations. FGV pays serious attention to any allegation of physical or sexual violence as well as intimidation or threats, and as a responsible company any case of such nature will be acted upon by FGV including by reporting them to the relevant authorities.

Recognising that respecting human rights is a continuous endeavour, FGV became a participating company of the Fair Labor Association (FLA) and is currently implementing a long-term and comprehensive action plan under its affiliation to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) that comprises a number of initiatives to further strengthen various aspects of our labour practices such as our recruitment process, human rights training programmes, working and living conditions, as well as grievance mechanisms, among others. FGV’s action plan for 2020 was adopted on 31 March 2020 in consultation with the FLA and with various other stakeholders including civil society organisations (CSOs).

The action plan was adopted at a time when the COVID-19 situation was rapidly worsening globally, including in Malaysia. Despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced FGV to realign its priorities to ensure that necessary measures are taken to curb and combat the spread of COVID-19, FGV remained committed to implementing the action plan, and FGV believes that concrete progress has been made in the six months of implementation beginning April 2020. FGV is confident that it is on the right track to be able to accomplish the action items due to be completed by the end of 2020.

FGV’s affiliation to the FLA is subject to a rigorous validation exercise and public reporting. FLA’s report on FGV’s progress on the implementation of the action plan is published on FLA’s website.

Since August 2019, FGV been communicating with CBP through our legal counsel and have submitted evidence of compliance of labour standards as committed by FGV. It will continue to engage with CBP to clear FGV’s name, and is determined to see through its commitment to respect human rights and uphold labour standards.

FGV Holdings Berhad

FGV Holdings Berhad (“FGV”) refers to the Withhold Release Order (WRO) issued by the United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) against palm oil and palm oil products made by FGV.

FGV would like to emphasise that all issues raised have been the subject of public discourse since 2015 and FGV has taken several steps to correct the situation. FGV’s efforts are well documented and available in the public domain.

FGV is disappointed that such decision has been made when FGV has been taking concrete steps over the past several years in demonstrating its commitment to respect human rights and to uphold labour standards. As mentioned in our statement dated 26 September 2020, various efforts have been carried out by FGV in honouring such commitment, including the following:

i. FGV continues to strengthen its procedures and processes in the recruitment of migrant workers. FGV has established four One-Stop Centres in Malaysia and in source countries namely in India and Indonesia, as part of our efforts to strengthen the pre-departure and post-arrival orientation programmes for our migrant workers. Through these orientation sessions, our migrant workers are briefed on various matters including the terms of their employment, job scope and nature of work, rights and responsibilities, as well as benefits and entitlements.

ii. FGV has also adopted its Guidelines and Procedures for the Responsible Recruitment of Migrant Workers in 2019 in accordance with international standards and will continue to strengthen the document. Under the Guidelines, FGV is committed to paying official costs associated with the recruitment of migrant workers, which include airfare and costs for work permit, visa, medical check-up and insurance. FGV has also revised its contract with recruitment agencies to require them to ensure that no fees are charged on the workers.

iii. FGV is not involved in any recruitment or employment of refugees. Effective 2020, FGV recruits its migrant workers mainly from India and Indonesia through legal channels and processes recognised and approved by the authorities of Malaysia and the source countries. As of August 2020, FGV has 11,286 Indonesian workers and 4,683 Indian workers, who together, form the majority of FGV’s plantation workforce. Furthermore, FGV does not hire contract workers and all workers are employed directly by FGV.

iv. FGV is also pioneering the implementation of the electronic wallet (e-wallet) cashless payroll system for its plantation workers. The e-wallet system, which gives empowerment to the workers, acts as a more convenient and efficient way for workers to manage their finances, was successfully rolled out since February 2020 in Gua Musang, Kelantan, involving 1,500 registered users in 11 of its estates. By first quarter 2021, FGV aims to implement this system for its entire plantation sector including estates in Sabah and Sarawak.

v. FGV does not practice the retention of its workers’ passports and has installed a total of 32,250 safety boxes throughout all its 68 complexes, as an option for migrant workers to keep their passports safely.

vi. In fulfilling the rights of workers to adequate housing, FGV has over the past three years, invested approximately MYR350 million to upgrade housing facilities for its workers by constructing new residences in our plantations all over the country.

vii. FGV respects workers’ right to healthcare through the benefits provided, which cover annual expenses for outpatient care and an unlimited allocation for inpatient treatment.

viii. Mindful that human rights and sustainability standards must be fulfilled throughout our supply chain, FGV has adopted a Supplier Code of Conduct (SCOC), outlining the principles and standards relating to sustainability; business ethics and integrity; safety, health and environment; and labour, with which our suppliers and vendors are required to comply. Any supplier or vendor that do not comply with the SCOC will be subjected to FGV’s Supplier Delinquency Guidelines, with the possibility of being suspended or terminated and blacklisted should they fail to demonstrate willingness to rectify gaps in their practices.

bought maxiumum FGV, all at 1.05

India: US$5.4 billion (21.9% of total palm oil imports)
China: $4.1 billion (16.7%)
Netherlands: $1.7 billion (6.9%)
Spain: $1.2 billion (4.8%)
Italy: $1.1 billion (4.3%)
United States: $1 billion (4.1%)
Russia: $668 million (2.7%)
Malaysia: $549.3 million (2.2%)
Germany: $517.5 million (2.1%)
Japan: $498.1 million (2%)
Pakistan: $458.5 million (1.9%)
Belgium: $376.1 million (1.5%)
Turkey: $373.5 million (1.5%)
South Korea: $348.7 million (1.4%)
Saudi Arabia: $337.4 million (1.4%)

China and india are the biggest importer for CPO, US demand is at tailing as it have its own soybean oil

bought FGV at 1.05

Investment bank that act as Underwriter may now trying to marked up jaks price in order for Jaks to fix higher 5-day weight average volume price for upcoming right share determination

sold JCY at 72-72.5sen, cut first

sold on strength at 2.20-2.21

add last balance capital to Lctitan at 2.13

cut jtiasa at 68.5-69.5sen

cut BPlant at 48-49sen

add last at 72.5sen

bought back JCY at 73.5sen

bought FP at 1.01

bought krono at 56.5-57sen

Thanks Choivo Capital for your very comprehensive thesis on Lctitan.

add more LCtitan at 2.06

sold back at 1.70

sell on strength, sold at 76.5sen, realize profit first

CPO recover back to RM 3000 soon

Super bullish

Have dual plantation stock in portfolio, but, these time, boustead stake is far bigger than jtiasa due to consideration now that Jtiasa still have loss making timber that erode its CPO profit.

Whereas, Boustead plantation have comparable CPO production with jtiasa, but is pure CPO stock. Boustead is top pick, jtiasa is second for trading purpose.

Boustead plantation have about same CPO production if compared to jtiasa, but it have nil loss making timber to erode its profit.

Boustead plantation is top pick for pure palm exposure.

JCY hard disc storage is key beneficial for data storage in digitization and cloud computing

Super undervalue PURE CPO stock

Digitization storage and cloud computing are next growth sector

Add full margin at 50sen

bought back JHM at 1.61

bought back JCY at 71.5sen

bought back jtiasa at 73sen

bought back BP plantation at 49.49.5sen

sold back careplus at 3.26-3.27

super bullish

bought maximum and all margin fund, all in careplus at 2.95-2.98

cut myeg at 1.35, free up capital first

sold back RS at 28.5-29sen, free up capital first

sold back jtiasa at 77sen, free up capital first

INDONESIA AIMS TO FINISH RESEARCH ON 40%-PALM-BASED BIODIESEL IN NOV
Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil exporter, plans to finish research into biodiesel containing 40% palm oil by November, the head of the energy ministry's research department said on Wednesday.

The country will implement the mandatory use of biodiesel containing 40% palm oil, known as B40, in July 2021 as it seeks to increase domestic palm oil use while slashing regular diesel imports......

Malaysian companies could take advantage from the news that Indonesia may further increase palm oil export levies in future to support its ambitious biodiesel programme. Indonesia raised its levy on crude palm oil exports in June to $55 per tonne and the government has pledged 2.78 trillion rupiah financial assistance for the programme. Indonesia biodiesel programme is expected to limit its supply of palm oil for export purposes thus could result in a gap that is expected to be filled by Malaysia

CPO > RM 3000 = planter earning too much profit = Gov Windfall profit tax, but limited to only 1.5% for jtiasa CPO above RM 3000 = windfall profit affect very mildly = sky rocket share price

Many glove stock afraid of potential windfall tax in coming budget due to earning profit too much, windfall profit give rise to glove stock sky rocket share price.

But, planter CPO already subject to windfall tax due to windfall profit above RM 3000, therefore, windfall profit will five rise to planter stocvk sky rocket share price too.

For planters in Sabah and Sarawak, a 1.5% windfall tax will be slapped if CPO prices exceed RM3,000 per tonne. Jiasa palm all locate in Sarawak, CPO currently still surpass slightly above RN3000, so, just a very modest 1.5% on excess threshold is applicable for windfall tax only.

Jtiasa still in big advantage and its windfall profit is relatively unaffected if compared to peninsular planter in which, double up windfall tax rate or 3% windfall tax per tonne is imposed on planters in Peninsular Malaysia if CPO prices surpass RM2,500 a tonne,

Add all margin in Jtiasa at 76sen

bought Rsawit at 29sen

bought back all jtiasa at 77-77.5sen

add myeg at 1.37

sold BPlantation at 54sen, locked profit first

sold back jtiasa at 83-83.5sen, locked profit first