5th Jun 2014 12:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - MP Evans PLC Thursday said it harvested more palm oil fresh fruit bunches in the first five months of 2014, and expects to continue harvesting more bunches in the future.
MP Evans, which has palm plantations, both majority and minority held, in Indonesia, beef cattle interests in Australia, and property development interests in Malaysia, said 152,900 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches were harvested by its majority owned estates during the period, up 16% on the 132,000 tonnes it harvested a year earlier.
The company said crops from its two new projects in Kalimantan and Bangka increased 37% to 80,500 tonnes, from 58,600 tonnes, but at its estates in Sumatra, the crop was similar at 72,400 tonnes compared with 73,400 tonnes the previous year.
MP Evans said it still expects the overall upward trend in fresh fruit crops to continue with an estimated crop of 2014 of 425,000 tonnes and for 2015 of 500,000 tonnes. However, it cautioned that a particularly bad 'El Nino' weather event may mean that the levels are not achieved.
The company also said that it expects palm-oil prices to rise in the longer term as Indonesia and Malaysia consume increasing quantities of palm oil for bio-diesel.
MP Evans added that its Woodlands and the NAPCo beef cattle properties in Australia have benefited from good rainfall in early 2014, after an unseasonally long dry spell. It said cattle prices have broadly increased since the year end, following a reported increase in demand for beef from Asia and a continued decline in the size of the US herd.
Still, MP Evans shares were down 2.1% to 470.00 pence on Thursday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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