Motivated by stronger Singapore dollar, Singaporean holidaymakers opting for better hotels, unique destinations
Singaporeans are opting for better hotels and unique destinations like Bhutan this June holidays, motivated by a strong Singapore dollar that stretches their budget. Travel agencies say that there's also been a shift towards what they call purposeful travel, with families prioritising meaningful experiences.
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Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
How Musim Mas navigates palm oil's bad reputation
[SINGAPORE] Deforestation can drive wildlife to the brink of extinction, trigger transboundary haze from the fires set to clear the vegetation, and contribute to forced labour – and its association with palm oil accounts for the industry's bad reputation. The director of sustainable supply chain at palm oil conglomerate Musim Mas does not deny it. 'Unfortunately,... we are still at that stage of saying 'We are not as bad as people think',' said Olivier Tichit. 'But if you go and ask a palm oil farmer what he thinks about palm oil, a (different picture emerges). The farmer does not understand why palm oil is demonised, and the consumer might not understand why farmers or companies are still turning to palm oil. So I think we still lack that connection between palm oil farmers and the global markets.' Information gaps exist in other aspects of the sector too. In 2021, the Indonesian government reported that deforestation rates had fallen by three-quarters to their lowest levels since 1990, when tracking such data began. But two years later, French geospatial company The TreeMap found that deforestation caused by single-crop palm oil plantations was once more on the rise. To address such discrepancies, Musim Mas, one of the largest integrated palm oil players, was the first from Indonesia to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), noted Tichit. Formed in 2004, the non-profit group facilitates the exchange of information on sustainability among stakeholders. It has more than 5,000 member organisations globally. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up Tichit admitted, however, that 'while we have 98 per cent traceability to plantations, it is very hard to get to 100 per cent because of the dynamic nature of the supply chain'. Tichit says that since the suppliers are usually one or two steps removed from the company, they may not see the need to disclose certain information – or they may view the process of reporting their emissions as daunting. PHOTO: MUSIM MAS Musim Mas conducts its primary operations in Indonesia, working with third-party suppliers and has trained almost 47,000 smallholder farmers. This increases its exposure to Scope 3 emissions significantly, said Tichit, referring to indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur along a company's value chain. Given that 91 per cent of what the Singapore-headquartered company processes is from third parties, it is vital for it to monitor and control Scope 3 emissions in order to meet its 'net-zero by 2050' goal, he added. The main challenge to doing that comes from the lack of clarity on these emissions. Tichit said that since the suppliers are usually one or two steps removed from the company, they may not see the need to disclose certain information – or they may view the process of reporting their emissions as daunting. Getting a better view Musim Mas thus spends 'an inordinate amount of time' engaging with its suppliers, especially those who are not RSPO-certified, and explaining to them what deforestation and peat are. 'What we can do is to be clear about what compliance is, and how you address it when there is an issue,' he added. Tichit said that when the company needs information from its partner farms, it helps to frame the questions differently. 'For example, instead of asking them when their land use changed (and whether they have) high or low land use... often, what we need from them is just: 'Was there a crop before? When did you plant?'' Musim Mas also relies on satellite imagery to track the extent of deforestation caused by its partner farms. It also conducts risk assessments on its suppliers, based on what they disclose and the credibility of this information. The company then assigns its many suppliers 'risk levels', which indicate which of them are trustworthy, and whether their actual emissions can be monitored in real time. 'We are trying to be as conservative as we can, without making it impossible for us to buy from anybody,' noted Tichit. He added: 'We need to ensure that it is easy for the information to come to us, so we can translate it into what the actual emissions are, how we assess them, and when we need to intervene.' The company also utilises the PalmGHG Calculator, developed by RSPO to help palm oil producers estimate and monitor their GHG emissions. Musim Mas has ventured into impact investing as well, through its initiatives with the smallholder farmers who are integrated into its supply chain, said Tichit. These programmes include training the farmers on good agricultural practices. These investments are set to grow. 'We are looking beyond tomorrow – how do we keep the youth now on the farm? How do we make it so that they will have a good living income and be better equipped to be better farm managers? These are some of the programmes that Musim Mas has invested in to prepare itself and the industry for the future.'
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business Times
Sustainable investors hold their ground as energy, defence stocks surge
[SINGAPORE] Regional wars, tariff threats and the US' pro-fossil fuel policies have sent defence and energy stocks soaring in 2025, but not all is lost for investors committed to sustainable and responsible investing, experts told The Business Times. Markets were closed on Jun 22, when US President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iranian nuclear sites, but investors are bracing for a further spike in oil prices and rush to safe havens. The S&P 500 Energy sector index had risen 8.56 per cent month on month as at Jun 20, compared with the S&P 500's 2.11 per cent month-on-month gain. In Asia, several energy stocks rose after Israel launched air strikes on Iran on Jun 13, sending Brent futures up by US$5 to US$74 per barrel. Singapore-listed energy players such as Rex International and RH PetroGas surged more than 6 per cent at market open on Jun 16 after the strikes. The MSCI World Aerospace and Defense Index had an even larger surge, and was up 33.45 per cent year-to-date as at May 31. Comparatively, the MSCI World Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index has underperformed, rising 3.26 per cent year-to-date as at May 30, 2025, compared with the MSCI World index's 5.18 per cent year-to-date increase. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up More than half (56 per cent) of global investors believe that Trump's pro-fossil fuels and anti-clean energy agenda will slow the net-zero transition, indicated asset management firm Robeco's fifth annual Global Climate Investing Survey 2025 released on Jun 3, 2025. 'Clearly, the world is currently facing a tremendous amount of uncertainty, which affects both companies and investors,' Jane Wadia, London-based head of sustainability for core products and clients at AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), told BT. US tariffs will disrupt the global trade system, she said, 'which has implications for sustainability due to the strain on supply chains'. She added: 'As a result, it may become more challenging for businesses to source materials and finance long-term projects that contribute to their sustainability efforts.' Even so, sustainability investing experts like Wadia are not too worried about the underperformance of sustainable funds or environmental, social and governance (ESG)-integrated strategies in light of these geopolitical and policy-driven uncertainties. 'We continue to see significant progress in the transition to net zero. A recent report from the International Energy Agency suggests that more than one in four cars sold globally in 2025 will be electric,' she said. 'The cost of renewable energy is falling relative to oil and gas in the long term, while demand for electricity is rising, driven by the ongoing development in China and the growth of artificial intelligence and data centres.' Despite news headlines about the ESG backlash, the undercurrents of companies' continued commitment to the energy transition and emissions reduction are still 'quite positive', said Louise Dudley, Federated Hermes' portfolio manager for global equities, who also leads ESG and responsible investment research strategy. 'We are still continuing to see opportunities around the world.' Federated Hermes managed US$839.8 billion in assets as at Mar 31, 2025. The 'green-hushing' phenomenon – where companies are removing climate goals and Web pages from the public eye but are still committed to sustainable agendas – is still alive and well, she said in an interview with BT. In addition, some of the underperforming funds could have been those that 'went quite high-risk, quite concentrated', she said, adding: 'Those types of thematic funds will have periods of underperformance as well as periods of outperformance.' A fund that is less thematic and more diversified is likely to be more resilient in the long term, she added. 'Maybe you don't get the excitement of 'Oh, we're 6 per cent ahead', but when some of these thematic trends, such as inflation, interest rates and all those things (come into play), we'll be well positioned on that,' she noted. At the core of it, measuring ESG factors is a form of risk management, she added. 'Governance, we always feel, is the backbone (of a firm), where, if a company is doing well from a governance perspective, it's going to do well… because it's going to be thinking about the right kind of risk; and it has the right people in place to manage whatever environment they go into,' she said. Responsible energy and defence investments The rise in energy and defence stocks is not necessarily incompatible with sustainable investing either, said Lucian Peppelenbos, climate and biodiversity strategist at Robeco, which had US$222 billion in assets under management and advice, of which US$216 billion is managed in ESG-integrated assets, as at December 2024. 'Within energy stocks, there are companies seriously transitioning; and also in many cases, for example, where gas replaces coal, we can see it as a sustainable transition investment,' said Peppelenbos, who is based in Amsterdam, said in an interview with BT. For instance, Norwegian oil and gas company Aker BP, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of 176.59 billion kroner (S$22.49 billion) has been viewed as an energy business with strong transition commitments, a relatively clean eco-footprint and strong fundamentals. Several other, more well-known global names such as Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have diversified into alternative energy sources to varying degrees, although some – such as British Petroleum (BP) – have rolled back their commitments to transition away from fossil fuels. When it comes to defence stocks, Robeco makes sure there is no exposure to controversial weapons – which is against the law, as Peppelenbos reminded – and the firm calls defence investments 'responsible investing' over 'sustainable investing'. Robeco considers controversial weapons to include cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines, white phosphorus and depleted uranium ammunition, along with chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Most of these are banned under international treaties. '(Within) exposure to defence stocks more generally, for example, there are more cybersecurity-related defence stocks that are very well compatible within ESG-integrated strategies,' he said. For instance, a high-profile incident last year where Northern Korean hackers were accused of allegedly stealing over US$1 billion worth of cryptocurrency highlights how modern warfare has evolved beyond conventional wars to cyberwars. Peppelenbos also believes that ESG is a performance driver; and because sustainability risks 'can be and often are financially material', integrating those risks makes for better informed investment decisions to help risk-adjusted returns, he said. 'Our research shows, for example, that among companies across high emission sectors and low emission sectors, companies that have good transition plans in terms of climate change – meaning targets that are in line with how their sector should decarbonise over time and are reflected in a credible transition plan – those companies are outperforming the climate laggers in their sector. So that's clearly a piece of evidence where sustainability and performance can actually go hand in hand,' he added. One underappreciated aspect of clean energy is that it plays a crucial role in future geopolitical stability as conflicts historically often arise over food, resources and energy, Ulrik Fugmann, co-head of environmental strategies group at the BNP Paribas Asset Management, told BT. Clean energy solutions and environment infrastructure is growing across Asia, Europe and the US at unprecedented speed and scale, he said. This is because of its cost-competitiveness and ability to readily tackle an urgent need to address global power deficits that are accelerated by the progress in artificial intelligence and data centres, said Fugmann, who is based in London. The asset manager has 602 billion euros (S$892.9 billion) in assets under management, of which 418 billion euros is in ESG assets. 'Given recent years' rise in inflation, interest rates and uncertain policy environment that is now getting re-enforced in the US and Europe, the clean energy sector today trades at valuation levels not seen since the great financial crisis in 2008 and depths of the Covid-19 crisis – in sharp contrast to global markets and elevated valuations in the technology sector trading at all-time highs,' he said. 'The case for sustainable solutions in clean energy has rarely been this attractive – both from a top-down macro-economic perspective and bottom-up valuation point of view,' he added.
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
South Korea counts on shipbuilding to ease US tariff woes
SEOUL: Asia's fourth largest economy South Korea is facing gruelling tariffs by US President Donald Trump, but its shipbuilding industry could prove a useful bargaining chip. Already hit by sector levies on steel and car exports, Seoul is laser-focused on negotiations over a 25 per cent country-specific tariff that has been suspended until Jul 8. WHY SHIPBUILDING? In the 1970s, South Korea's military leader president Park Chung-hee accelerated the country's heavy industry, designating sectors such as steel and shipbuilding "strategically important" and rolling out state subsidies. At the same time, POSCO was founded, now one of the world's largest steel producers, and conglomerate Hyundai built its shipyard in southeastern Ulsan, which started to grow rapidly. European rivals struggled to keep pace. Sweden's Kockums Shipyard filed for bankruptcy in 1987 and in a symbolic shift of global shipbuilding power, Hyundai acquired its 140-metre Goliath crane for one dollar. It now towers over southern Ulsan. In the 1990s and 2000s, South Korean shipbuilders such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries ramped up investment in research and development, backed by generous government subsidies. The country secured a competitive edge in high-value-added vessels, including LNG carriers, very large crude carriers, and offshore platforms. IS IT IMPORTANT? South Korea's exports hit a record high in 2024, with analysts pointing to shipbuilding as one of the key drivers. The sector accounted for nearly four percent of total exports and grew by almost 20 per cent from the previous year, reaching US$25.6 billion. Shipbuilding directly employs around 120,000 workers, roughly one percent of the country's total workforce, with indirect employment significantly higher in industrial hubs like Ulsan. Industry data shows so far this year, new orders have exceeded 13 trillion won (US$9.4 billion). In March, Hanwha Ocean secured a landmark $1.6 billion contract to build LNG carriers for Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, one of the largest single orders in the sector this year. WHY IS IT A 'BARGAINING CHIP'? Trump has showed "significant interest in South Korea-US shipbuilding cooperation," said South Korea's trade, industry and energy minister Ahn Duk-geun in April. Like the Europeans, the US shipbuilding industry has lagged behind South Korea and China, and as a result, the sector is seen as a "highly important bargaining chip in trade negotiations," he added. At an APEC finance ministers' meeting in South Korea in May, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met Chung Ki-sun, vice chairman of HD Hyundai, the country's largest shipbuilder, before he met Seoul's top officials. "South Korea's shipbuilding and defence industries see a window of opportunity," said Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University. HOW DOES IT HELP THE US? Greer also met with the CEO of Hanwha Ocean, the first non-American company authorised to carry out a dry-dock maintenance of a US Navy vessel. The move last September was seen as significant as it signalled that Washington sees South Korea, where it already has 28,000 US troops stationed, as a strategic defence hub. With worries growing about China's expanding naval fleet and potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the US has begun seeking reliable overseas shipyards to support its operations in the Asia-Pacific region. The global market for ship maintenance, repair, and overhaul is projected to exceed $60 billion annually, according to industry estimates. ANY PROBLEMS? Despite multi-billion-dollar contracts, data suggests South Korea's shipbuilding industry is losing ground in the global race. China dominates with South Korea's market share dropping, according to industry data. Demand for eco-friendly vessels is rising, and the government need to overhaul regulations "to support the development of next-generation eco-friendly vessels," Rhee Shin-hyung, a professor at Seoul National University, told AFP. South Korea's woeful demographics also make staffing hard. In Geoje, home to Samsung Heavy Industries, the number of residents in their 20s and 30s has nearly halved in recent years. Orders are down in 2025 which hints that "the shipbuilding boom may end sooner than the market anticipated," warned Rhee. Global ship orders between January and April fell by almost half the volume recorded during the same period last year. Shipbuilders have been enjoying a "supercycle" but unfortunately the "peak is expected to be lower and the boom shorter-lived compared to the past," Nam Chul, vice president at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, told AFP.
