KUALA LUMPUR (March 23): IOI Corp Bhd has clarified that the sales of its crude palm oil (CPO) will not be affected even in the event of a suspension of the company's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) membership, as CPO is a globally traded commodity.

IOI said the only effect that a RSPO membership suspension would have is to deny the company Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) premium earnings on its oil, which represents less than 0.5% of its total revenue.

"RSPO has confirmed that even in the event of a suspension, IOI's existing inventory of CSPO remains unaffected and can continue to be sold as CSPO," it said in a statement today.

Bloomberg had reported that the suspension recommendation surfaced following IOI's alleged non-compliance with some of RSPO's rules on possessing environmental permits and clearing of fragile land in Indonesia.

IOI said that it has submitted a detailed and comprehensive action plan to RSPO and believes that the measures are reasonable and sufficient to resolve the outstanding issues. And it is now waiting for RSPO to review the action plan and give its response.

"We believe that any statement or comment relating to the effect of the suspension of IOI's RSPO membership is premature and highly speculative at this stage," it added.

IOI Corp shares were down 15 sen or 3.02% at RM4.81 today, for a market capitalisation of RM30.37 billion.