Palm oil stocks slide after Singapore begins looking into which firms responsible for haze

[SINGAPORE] Shares of palm oil producers fell on Friday (Oct 16) after Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Facebook that the country is looking into which companies may be responsible for haze-causing fires.

Where warranted, Singapore will take action under its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, and also explore joint action with other countries, said PM Wong in a Facebook post on Thursday.

First Resources shares fell as much as 9.1 per cent to S$3.71 as at 9.20 am, and Bumitama Agri retreated 7.5 per cent to an intraday low of S$1.73. Golden Agri-Resources dropped as much as 6.9 per cent to S$0.27.

A Straits Times report on Thursday cited a recent Greenpeace investigation, which named First Resources and Bumitama Agri among entities with concession areas registering haze source points.

First Resources on Thursday defended itself, stating that fires detected within its Indonesian palm oil concessions were largely caused by external blazes spreading across its boundaries. The company attributed the elevated fire risk in West Kalimantan to a “severe” El Nino-induced drought.

Indonesia on Thursday blamed peatland degradation by past food estates for its worst wildfire season in 11 years, and said it will work to restore its peat ecosystem.

Air quality deteriorated across all of Singapore overnight. The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index reading in the central region hit the “very unhealthy” level at midnight on Friday and stood at 227 at 9 am – a new high for the year. Readings in the rest of the country were at the “unhealthy” level.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Wednesday said that Singapore was “keeping its options open” on if it will take action against errant companies under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

That followed a National Environment Agency spokesperson stating that the agency “has been closely monitoring the haze situation, gathering information on fire hot spots, their sources and impact on Singapore’s air quality”.