BSP takes hit on low commodity prices

BSP takes hit on low commodity prices

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantation (BSP) suffered a
net loss of Rp 55.7 billion (about US$4.95 million) in the first
quarter of this year due to a sharp drop in rubber and crude palm
oil (CPO) prices.

The figure was higher than the Rp 8.3 billion net loss booked
in the January-March period last year.

The company, a subsidiary of the widely diversified Bakrie &
Brothers, said on Wednesday that the price of robber on the
international market fell to an average of U.S. 57 cents per
kilogram during the first quarter of this year from 68 cents in
the same period last year.

The price of crude palm oil, the company's other main
commodity, dropped to an average of $247 per ton during the first
three months of this year from $344 a ton in the corresponding
months in 2000.

The company said that despite an increase in volume, sales
revenues declined by 8 percent to Rp 58 billion during the first
quarter of this year from Rp 63 billion in the same period last
year.

Aside from falling prices, the company's massive foreign
exchange loss of Rp 67.6 billion during the first quarter of this
year also contributed to its net loss.

"The weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar also
raised our liability to Rp 939 billion in the first quarter of
this year, an increase of 42 percent compared to the same period
last year," the company said. (03)