Excitement
January 24th, 2020
⏰ 1 minute read
⏰ 1 minute read
KOM
We are just back from one of our largest & most perfectly mature plantations in Central Kalimantan, BHL. This year we are doing all the kick off meetings in the plantations rather than bringing everyone to Jakarta. That means we’ve divided it up into regions, so 3 meetings instead of one. It’s always a great opportunity to get excited about the year ahead & in addition to the difference of being on the ground, this year seemed particularly exciting. Here’s why...
BHL
I’ve been going to BHL since 2011, so this is the 10th year. When I first went there it was full of promise. As the trees were young, you could literally see the future because the plantation stretched out towards the horizon in the distance. Today it’s the taller trees which command attention not the horizon. BHL combined with neighboring ADS is big too, 17k hecates, all in one contiguous block.
Now
In addition to size, the soil is perfect & the planting materials are excellent. After a few tough years, the staff have for the last 2 months been cleaning up the plantation to prepare for higher yields this year & a new regional COO with tremendous experience has just arrived from Malaysia to lead them. Both mills (one is using the new oblique technology) are also excited to join in the new low FFA program & compete with their cousins.
Jan
As a result of this backdrop, the kick off meeting atmosphere (enhanced with copious amounts of amazing fresh local durian) was unusually heightened. This is a contrast. January is normally a subdued month. After the second half production peak plus the slow holidays, January fruit production is usually significantly down. The last few years have averaged minus 30% from December!
2020
But 2020 is different. With 23 days of January already counted, we are on track to produce 129k tons of fruit, which is the same as December. 2016 into 2017 was down -40%, 2017 into 2018 -35%, 2018 into 2019 -15%. 2019 into 2020 looks like 0%. On top of that the last few days are pointing up to 140k to 150k tons for a month. 2020 is already looking like a very exciting year.
Sebastian
We are just back from one of our largest & most perfectly mature plantations in Central Kalimantan, BHL. This year we are doing all the kick off meetings in the plantations rather than bringing everyone to Jakarta. That means we’ve divided it up into regions, so 3 meetings instead of one. It’s always a great opportunity to get excited about the year ahead & in addition to the difference of being on the ground, this year seemed particularly exciting. Here’s why...
BHL
I’ve been going to BHL since 2011, so this is the 10th year. When I first went there it was full of promise. As the trees were young, you could literally see the future because the plantation stretched out towards the horizon in the distance. Today it’s the taller trees which command attention not the horizon. BHL combined with neighboring ADS is big too, 17k hecates, all in one contiguous block.
Now
In addition to size, the soil is perfect & the planting materials are excellent. After a few tough years, the staff have for the last 2 months been cleaning up the plantation to prepare for higher yields this year & a new regional COO with tremendous experience has just arrived from Malaysia to lead them. Both mills (one is using the new oblique technology) are also excited to join in the new low FFA program & compete with their cousins.
Jan
As a result of this backdrop, the kick off meeting atmosphere (enhanced with copious amounts of amazing fresh local durian) was unusually heightened. This is a contrast. January is normally a subdued month. After the second half production peak plus the slow holidays, January fruit production is usually significantly down. The last few years have averaged minus 30% from December!
2020
But 2020 is different. With 23 days of January already counted, we are on track to produce 129k tons of fruit, which is the same as December. 2016 into 2017 was down -40%, 2017 into 2018 -35%, 2018 into 2019 -15%. 2019 into 2020 looks like 0%. On top of that the last few days are pointing up to 140k to 150k tons for a month. 2020 is already looking like a very exciting year.
Sebastian