JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group said yesterday that it had invited Unilever to inspect its palm oil operations after Unilever suspended purchases of edible oil on environmental concerns.

Unilever, said last week that it has suspended all purchases of edible oil from Sinar Mas’ unit PT Smart on concerns about rain forest destruction in Indonesia. the world’s top palm oil producer.

Unilever, which uses palm oil in products including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry ice cream, and margarines like Stork, cancelled its annual STG20 million (RM110.4 million) contract with Sinar Mas after a critical report by Greenpeace.

“We urge Unilever not to just look at data from Greenpeace because we have denied the report, which is inaccurate,” Gandi Sulistyanto, a managing director of Sinar Mas, said.

“It is up to Unilever to decide but for us, Greenpeace data is incorrect,” he added.

Greenpeace alleged that Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer and the second-biggest oil palm producer in the world, has been responsible for widespread deforestation and peatland clearance, practices which release vast amounts of carbon dioxide. – Reuters Source: Business Times

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