JAKARTA. PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk (AALI) will continue to increase the production of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivative products this year, even though their selling price in the global market is experiencing a downward trend since 2018.
Rudy Limardjo, Head of Investor Relations at AALI, explained that his party would maintain the growth of its production performance this year. The reason is that AALI's production performance as a producer is not affected by fluctuations in the selling price of CPO and its derivative products in the global market. "In the palm oil industry, there is no thought that if prices go down, we will reduce production," said Limardjo on Tuesday (30/4) when met by idnfinancials.com.
During the first quarter (Q1) of 2019, AALI's production performance has shown positive growth. FBB or fresh fruit bunches production rose by 3.8% to 1.22 million tonnes, CPO production rose by 6.8% to 414.9 thousand tonnes, molein production for cooking oil rose by 21.2% to 83.6 thousand tonnes, and kernel rose by 2.2% to 86.7 thousand tonnes in Q1 2019.
Production realization was supported by an increase in factory utilization from 77% in Q1 2018 to 83% in Q1 this year. AALI will try to increase its plant utilization to 90% this year. (KR/AR)