Obtala Limited Mozambique Forestry Update (0822L)
April 17 2018 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMOBT
RNS Number : 0822L
Obtala Limited
17 April 2018
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES
OF ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014.
17 April 2018
Obtala Limited
("Obtala", the "Group" or the "Company")
(AIM: OBT)
Mozambique Forestry Update
In Mozambique last week, The Ministry of Land, Environment and
Rural Development (MITADER) issued a ruling on the exploitation and
export of endangered species of timber, under which the
exploitation and collection of timber of Pterocarpus tinctorius,
(Nkula), Swartzia madagascariensis (Ironwood), Combretum imberbe
(Mondzo) is forbidden.
Obtala has never owned licences to extract any of these
species.
In addition, the export of Chanfuta, Umbila and Jambire will not
be allowed, those three species being licensed only for the
domestic market. Obtala has previously exported both Chanfuta and
Umbila from Mozambique. Exports of these species made up less than
5% of total Group sales in Q1 2018.
According to the new rules, the export of native species of wood
can only be carried out by operators certified by MITADER,
applicants having met specific criteria, such as the presentation
of an annual export plan and compliance with established industry
criteria.
Following earlier announcements by the Mozambique authorities
this year regarding increases in export duties (which were
subsequently rescinded), we appear to be seeing a shift in policy
in Mozambique, with a stronger attitude taken against illegal
logging, and a movement towards in-country processing and the
development of a domestic market. We must now wait to see whether
or not the government of Mozambique decides to uphold the MITADER
ruling, since the ruling is not automatically adopted into law.
CEO of Obtala, Paul Dolan, commented,
"We will fully review the potential financial implications of
these measures to the Group, but since Argento's operations in
Mozambique are certified by MITADER, if they are adopted into law
they should, in the long term, benefit the Group from both an
operational and pricing perspective. In the short term however,
until we have more clarity regarding the specific path that the
government expects the timber industry to take, and any other
measures that it may implement, it is clearly prudent for us to
minimise risk by deploying financial resources towards expanding
capacity at our production facilities in Gabon rather than
Mozambique."
Obtala Limited
Miles Pelham - Chairman
Paul Dolan - CEO
Martin Collins - Deputy Chairman
www.obtala.com +44 (0)20 7099 1940
Northland Capital Partners Ltd (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Tom Price
Jamie Spotswood +44 (0)20 3861 6625
Brandon Hill Capital (Joint Broker)
Jonathan Evans +44 (0)20 3463 5000
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MSCIFMATMBIBBJP
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 17, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Woodbois (LSE:WBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Woodbois (LSE:WBI)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024