SINGAPORE Jan 3 (Reuters) – Shares of
Singapore-listed Mewah International, which processes
and distributes palm-based products such as edible oils and
fats, rose as much as 4.3 percent on Tuesday after it announced
its plan to invest around $145 million in Indonesia.

At 0120 GMT, Mewah shares were up 3.2 percent at S$0.48,
outperforming the broader Straits Times Index which was
0.6 percent higher.

“Indonesia is a growing business and with the new palm oil
tax structure, it encourages more domestic production of
finished goods,” said a Singapore analyst.

Top crude palm oil producer Indonesia had slashed its export
taxes for the processed grades of the tropical oil to jump start
its refineries, changing trade flows and sparking concerns on
the survival of vegetable oil factories in key competitor
Malaysia and biggest customer India.

Mewah said on Tuesday it plans to invest in a refinery,
packing plant and related logistics facilities in East Java,
Indonesia. The refinery is expected to have installed capacity
of around 630,000 metric tonnes annually.

But the company also said that to prioritize the Indonesia
project, it had decided to delay the completion of its refinery
in Sabah, Malaysia. Its packing plants in Zhangjiagang and
Tianjin, China, are also expected to be postponed.

(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata)

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