Dekel Agri-Vision PLC March Palm Oil Production Update (7165V)

TIDMDKL

RNS Number : 7165V

Dekel Agri-Vision PLC

11 April 2023

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Dekel Agri-Vision Plc / Index: AIM / Epic: DKL / Sector: Food Producers

Dekel Agri-Vision Plc

('Dekel' or the 'Company')

March Palm Oil Production Update

Dekel Agri-Vision Plc (AIM: DKL) , the West African agriculture company focused on building a portfolio of sustainable and diversified projects, is pleased to provide a March production update for its Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d'Ivoire ('Palm Oil Operation').

Key Highlight s

-- March monthly like for like production increased significantly compared to last year with Fresh Fruit Bunch ('FFB') volumes and Crude Palm Oil ('CPO') production increasing 56.4% and 48.6% respectively.

o The increase in production was driven by the return of a more typical high season harvesting month as compared to last year.

o The increase in production has continued into early April and our early guidance for April is we expect to report higher production in April compared to last year.

-- The Company is continuing to see strong local Crude Palm Oil ('CPO') demand resulting in CPO sales quantities increasing 45.2% in March compared to last year. Palm Kernel Oil ('PKO') sales quantities were also strong in March increasing 206% compared to last year driven largely by the timing of bulk PKO sales taking place in March and a 19.4% increase in production.

-- CPO sales prices remain robust at EUR967 per tonne. Local prices continued to trade at a premium to the international CPO prices which hovered around $1,025 per tonne (EUR940 per tonne) during March. Palm Kernel Oil ('PKO') prices have decreased from their all time peak levels last year and the international price is currently trading at around EUR1,000 per tonne. Local PKO demand remains slightly softer with prices achieved of EUR973 per tonne.

-- The CPO extraction rate decreased from the record February levels, however, was in line with historical trends at 21.8% where the delivery of peak FFB volumes inevitably leads to increased double handling of FFB at the mill site awaiting processing.

-- The Palm Oil Operation gross margin percentages remain healthy and the significant increase in FFB volumes has materially improved overall gross margins in March 2023 compared to March 2022.

 
                                Mar-23     Mar-22   Change 
 
 FFB processed (tonnes)         24,508     15,673    56.4% 
 CPO Extraction Rate             21.6%      22.8%    -5.3% 
 CPO production (tonnes)         5,302      3,567    48.6% 
 CPO Sales (tonnes)              4,048      2,788    45.2% 
 Average CPO price per tonne    EUR967     EUR996    -2.9% 
 Palm Kernel Oil ('PKO') 
  production (tonnes)              280        235    19.4% 
 PKO Sales (tonnes)                383        125    206.4% 
 Average PKO price per tonne    EUR973   EUR1,486    -34.5% 
 

Lincoln Moore, Dekel 's Executive Director , said: "It has been fantastic to see the return of a more typical peak harvesting month following last year's flat FFB high season harvest. With CPO prices remaining strong, we are currently capitalising on this period of strong production. FFB quantities in early April have continued to look promising setting the Palm Oil Operation up for a potentially strong Q2 2023 performance compared to last year. We also look forward to providing our first quarterly production report for the Cashew Operation which will be released in the coming days."

** ENDS **

For further information, please visit the Company's website www.dekelagrivision.com or contact:

 
 Dekel Agri-Vision Plc 
  Youval Rasin 
  Shai Kol 
  Lincoln Moore                              [phone] 
 WH Ireland Ltd (Nomad and Joint Broker) 
  James Joyce 
  Darshan Patel                              [phone] 
 Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker) 
  Christian Dennis 
  Daniel Ingram                              [phone] 
 

Notes:

Dekel Agri-Vision Plc is a multi-project, multi-commodity agriculture company focused on West Africa. It has a portfolio of projects in Côte d'Ivoire at various stages of development: a fully operational palm oil project in Ayenouan where fruit produced by local smallholders is processed at the Company's 60,000tpa capacity crude palm oil mill and a cashew processing project in Tiebissou, which is currently transitioning to full commercial production in 2023.

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April 11, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)