Labour crunch hurts Malaysian palm oil growers as Indonesians stay home |
- Labour crunch hurts Malaysian palm oil growers as Indonesians stay home
- Barcelona defender Alves bites back at banana racism
- Sharapova fights back to win Stuttgart title
- Tokyo stocks open 0.97pc lower
- Nishikori first Japanese to win Barcelona Open
- Twenty fishermen rescued from sinking South African boat (VIDEO)
| Labour crunch hurts Malaysian palm oil growers as Indonesians stay home Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:53 PM PDT
The two countries account for about 85 per cent of the global output of palm oil ― used in foods ranging from margarines and biscuits to instant noodles ― and Indonesia's booming economy also poses a longer-term threat to its own palm oil output as urbanisation drains rural workers. Malaysia has long relied on plantation workers from neighbouring Indonesia to harvest fresh fruit bunches from oil palm trees that can grow up to 20 metres (66 feet) tall ― jobs that are proving hard to replace with mechanisation. But the number of Indonesians willing to leave their homes and families for the gruelling work is dwindling due to higher wages at home and rapid urbanisation in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Indonesian applicants for jobs in Malaysia's palm oil sector plunged to 38,000 in 2013 from more than 120,000 in each of the previous two years, according to data from the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur. "Some are not interested (in working on plantations) anymore," said Abdul Rahim, a 32-year-old Indonesian working on a 2,000-hectare oil palm estate inMalaysia's Selangor state neighbouring the capital Kuala Lumpur. "If I have the means, I will go home and open up my own business there." Industry officials and analysts estimate that planters lose up to 5-10 per cent of their fruit each year due to labour shortages, cutting Malaysia's total export revenues by about RM2.5 billion ringgit annually. In 2013, Malaysia's palm oil exports dipped to RM45.27 billion, its lowest since 2010, from RM52.99 billion a year before. Palm oil accounts for about six per cent of the country's total exports. Faced with a labour shortage, Malaysian planters face an unpalatable choice between paying more to hire and keep workers ― hurting their already thin profit margins ― or cutting harvesting rounds and leaving fruits to rot. "The Malaysian palm industry is losing billions (of ringgit) in net export earnings in the form of missed-out bunches due to the chronic labour shortage," said Carl Bek-Nielson, the CEO of Danish-Malaysian United Plantations. "We just can't get enough employees to come. If one can get sufficient labour, it will make everything more effective, from harvesting rounds to reducing losses." Narrowing wage gap Of the 550,000 Indonesian plantation workers currently in Malaysia, about 95 per cent are in the oil palm industry, embassy data showed. About 80 per cent of Malaysia's palm oil workforce are Indonesians, with Indians accounting for most of the rest. Planters prefer Indonesians because they are seen as harder working, may have had prior experience in palm oil estates, and share a somewhat similar language. A plantation worker can earn an average of about RM900 per month in Malaysia, up to about RM2,000, compared to an average of about RM700 in Indonesia. But a foreign worker in Malaysia may also have to pay more in taxes and for utilities. But salary was not the only factor for workers, said Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah, chief executive of the world's third-largest palm plantation operator Felda Global Ventures Holdings. "They're looking at social benefits, wellbeing and so on," he said. Robust economic growth in Indonesia, averaging an annual 6 percent in recent years, has boosted consumer confidence and opened up more jobs outside the agriculture industry and narrowed the salary gap between the two countries. The capital Jakarta, one of 505 administrative districts and with a population of about 10 million, raised its minimum wage level by 11 per cent late last year and 44 per cent in 2012. Agriculture contributes about 15 per cent to the GDP of Indonesia, with around 35 per cent of the 240 million population dependent on agriculture for their main source of income. McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates that the share of the population living in cities could reach 71 per cent in 2030, from 53 per cent now as people seek greater opportunities and higher paid jobs. "Urbanisation could result in about eight million fewer farmers by 2030," said MGI, the research arm of consultancy McKinsey & Co. That could eventually strain the labour force in Indonesia's palm oil sector as well as Malaysia's. "It will be a problem for the next five years if the government is not careful," said Wahyu Widodo, director of wages and worker's social security atIndonesia's Manpower and Transmigration Ministry. "It will be dangerous for Indonesia's agriculture." Technology lags Major palm oil firms operating in Southeast Asia include Malaysia's Sime Darby, PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, and Wilmar International. Malaysia is expected to produce between 19.5 and 19.7 million tonnes of palm oil this year, only slightly higher than 19.2 million tonnes in 2013, whileIndonesia is forecast to churn out 28-30 million tonnes. Malaysia's average yield of crude palm oil per hectare was 3.85 tonnes in 2013. Growers said a lack of labour would limit programmes such as planting superior seeds that can boost yields up to 7.0 tonnes a hectare. Harvesting palm fruit bunches that weigh up to 25 kilogrammes (55 pounds) each is labour intensive, especially as trees mature and grow taller each year. While mechanised tools are widely used in manuring and to cut fruit from shorter trees between 3 and 8 years old, robotic technology to harvest from mature trees does not exist. A Malaysia-based inventor whose company specializes in labour-saving devices in the palm industry told Reuters his team is working on a mechanical cutter for trees above 8 meters tall that may be ready in the next three years. "If this works, it can increase productivity by about 100-200 per cent. So far we have had some drawbacks, but we are still doing a lot of research and development," said the inventor who did not want to be identified. The cutter would still have to be operated by a worker. ― Reuters  |
| Barcelona defender Alves bites back at banana racism Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:46 PM PDT
The Brazil international casually picked up a banana thrown from the terraces onto the pitch, peeled it and shoved it in his mouth in one fluid motion before tossing away the peel and completing the kick. Alves has previously taken a stand against racism at stadia in Spain. The 30-year-old complained of racial abuse last year after being taunted by monkey chants from sections of the crowd during a King's Cup semi-final at Real Madrid and labelled Spain's efforts to tackle the problem a "lost war". European soccer has long been blighted by racist incidents by fans and their leagues criticised for not doing enough to stamp them out. — Reuters |
| Sharapova fights back to win Stuttgart title Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:41 PM PDT
Former world number one Ivanovic raced to a 5-0 lead before taking the first set and breaking early in the second as the Serbian seemed set for victory. Sharapova, however, had other ideas and took 11 of the final 13 games. "For the first half of the match I thought it might not be my day today, but somehow I turned it around," the Russian told reporters after winning the 30th WTA title of her career. "I had quite a slow beginning to the year, but me and my team have been working hard to get in the position to win titles again." — Reuters |
| Tokyo stocks open 0.97pc lower Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:31 PM PDT
The Nikkei 225 index was down 139.44 points at 14,289.82 at the start. Tokyo stocks were likely to be hit by continued sell-offs in US high-technology shares, said Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist for investment strategy at Okasan Securities. "Sluggish trading is likely to continue," he told Dow Jones Newswires. A slightly higher yen on the back of geopolitical tensions in eastern Europe is also seen negative to Tokyo stocks. The dollar was at ¥102.07 (RM3.27) early today compared with ¥102.19 in New York Friday afternoon. The euro bought US$1.3835 and US$141.22 yen against US$1.3832 and ¥141.36 in US trade. But Ishiguro said investors were unlikely to sell aggressively in the midst of earnings season. US stocks Friday slumped after a dim earnings outlook from Amazon sparked a big retreat in tech stocks and as world leaders signalled growing worries over Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.85 per cent to 16,361.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 1.75 per cent to 4,075.56. Pro-Russian militants in Ukraine presented a captured team of international observers as "prisoners of war" yesterday, raising the stakes in the crisis as US President Barack Obama warned Moscow against "provocation". ― AFP |
| Nishikori first Japanese to win Barcelona Open Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:30 PM PDT
Nishikori dropped his opening service game against Giraldo, who was facing the biggest match of his career, but quickly found his rhythm and broke back with the Colombian losing his serve on a double fault. Giraldo was hitting the ball well but Nishikori showed his superiority from the base line as he invariably won the longer rallies and broke twice more to take first set comfortably. A demoralised Giraldo immediately went 2-0 down in the next set and was unable to find the winning shots that had seen him knock out Nicolas Almagro in the semi-finals. There was no mercy from Nishikori who broke twice more on his way to victory. — Reuters |
| Twenty fishermen rescued from sinking South African boat (VIDEO) Posted: 27 Apr 2014 05:28 PM PDT CAPE TOWN, April 28 — Twenty crew members of a fishing vessel were rescued April 27th after their ship sank off the southern coast of South Africa, according to a report by the nation's National Sea Rescue Institute. The vessel, identified as the Cape Town-registered Starfish, sent a distress signal at 11:16 am on Saturday. The fishermen next abandoned the sinking ship and boarded a liferaft. The Northern Star, a bulk carrier, diverted its course to respond to the distress signal and rescued all of the ships 20 crew members. The bulk carrier made its way to Port Elizabeth where the crewmen from the sunken fishing trawler were safely brought ashore early yesterday. All members of the crew, which included South African, Kenyan, Angolan and Namibian nationals, escaped without injury. — Reuters
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