Wilmar Clear Winner in Indonesia Tax Changes

S‌INGAPORE, KOMPAS.com - S'pore plantation stocks are mostly higher, tracking improved broad market sentiment, while analysts say changes to Indonesia's palm oil export tax rules are mostly positive.

CIMB, which remains Neutral on the sector, says the new rules are positive for Indonesian refiners in the near term, and upstream producers in the medium term.

“Key beneficiaries are players with refining capacity in Indonesia such as Wilmar, Golden Agri Indofood Agri and SIMP (SIMP.JK)“ while Malaysian refiners and oleochemical producers such as IOI and Mewah “may face stiffer competition from the Indonesia refiners,“ it says.

Credit Suisse says Indonesia's downstream players “will now enjoy even fatter margins from this new tax structure“ because export tax for refined/value added products like refined olein (7% vs 12.5% previously) and refined palm kernel olein (5.0% vs 12.5%) have been cut.

It adds, Wilmar, rated Outperform, “is a clear winner“ from the changes as it is the largest refiner in Indonesia.“ Wilmar is +1.0% at S$5.22, Golden Agri is +2.4% at S$0.635.