SINGAPORE (July 11): If you thought 1Q18 was a challenging period for the palm oil industry, the outlook for 2H18 could be worse as market watchers worry about a production surplus in 2H18, due to seasonality and low production in 1Q18.

In 2Q18, crude palm oil (CPO) prices trended lower in 2Q18, and are down about 6% so far this quarter. As for Golden-Agri Resources (GAR), its share price is down about 16% from end March while the STI is down about 5% over the same period.

On the currency front, the IDR has also depreciated by about 5.9% against the USD with most of the loss happening in 2Q18. GAR’s sales to customers within Indonesia and China are denominated in their local currencies, while export sales for most of the group’s products and cost of certain key purchases are quoted in USD... (Click here to read the full story)