Wilmar

Wilmar: We attended grp’s 3Q12 briefing during lunch, which was well-attended by the Press and various houses. Key findings and notes as follow: 1) Majority of questions centred upon grp’s crushing margins in China. Grp confident that 4Q crushing operations would remain positive, following the return to profitability in 3Q. Cite volatility of Soybeans this yr was largely due to financial traders, using soybeans as a means of trade financing/borrowing. Overall, remains positive on the future of the Soybean industry. Add that in China, its necessary to take trading positions in Soybeans, esp for this yr, to be profitable. 2) Utilization for crushing capacity at 50%, and 4Q could increase to 60% in 2013 3) Tip that rice and flour will be a major business for the grp going forward. 4) For grp’s CPo refining capcity, note that its new Indo plants are running at almost full capacity and tip to benefit from higher Msian margins going forward, on back of the new export tax regime. 5) Expect current CPO stockpiles to remain high for a while, adding that no one is buying aggressively. 6) Regarding sugar segment, expect 4Q performance to at least match 3Q results, and also expect Sugar to become a major business in future, as grp moves along the value chain, and expand to become the world’s top 3 or 4 raw sugar player. 7) Regarding JV with kellogs, tip that Cereal is still a small business in China, but expect consumption to rise in-line with a growing and more affluent country.