Indonesian timber giant PT Barito Pacific Timber is to pay US$255m for a 60% stake in a forestry company that manages 296,400ha of industrial plantation.
The move will make Barito the sole owner of PT Enim Musi Lestari as it already owns a 40% share in the company.
The purchase is aimed at helping to resolve raw material supply shortages from Barito’s forest concession areas for plywood manufacturing. Barito says the shortages are caused by increasing international demand for an ecolabel certificate, which is only provided for timber harvested in industrial plantations.
