KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): Plantation stocks on Bursa Malaysia were among the top gainers, after Indonesia lifted restrictions on its workers entering Malaysia starting from Monday (Aug 1), including the workers from the plantation sector.

At 11.27am, the Bursa’s plantation index rose 1.29% or 90.37 points to 7,088.71.

Batu Kawan Bhd — the second top gainer across the bourse — increased 20 sen or 0.86% to RM23.40, with a market capitalisation of RM9.39 billion.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) climbed 30 sen or 1.37% at RM22.22 with some 27,900 shares traded. At the current price, the counter is valued at RM24.02 billion.

Chin Teck Plantations Bhd grew 27 sen or 2.96% to RM9.40, valuing it at RM854.25 million. Year-to-date, the stock has risen 32.39% from RM7.10.

This was followed by Genting Plantations Bhd, which rose 14 sen to RM6.60, giving it a market value of RM5.92 billion; Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, which grew 3.65% to RM3.98 for a market value of RM1.77 billion; and United Plantations Bhd, which inched up 0.84% to RM14.42 with a market value of RM6 billion.

Reuters reported last month that Indonesia temporarily stopped sending its citizens to work in Malaysia, citing a breach in a worker recruitment deal signed between the two countries, which could derail the country’s economic recovery.

CGS-CIMB Research, in a note dated July 29, said the recruitment of plantation workers from Indonesia is critical to boost the fresh fruit bunches yields, raise the crude palm oil output and reduce the cost of production of Malaysian estates.

It said the resolution of the recent temporary freeze will allow the resumption of Indonesian foreign worker intake in the next few months to alleviate the current foreign worker shortage issue.

“This will be positive for the plantation, manufacturing, construction and services sectors in Malaysia as it will help boost future productivity and profitability of the businesses,” said CGS-CIMB analysts Ivy Ng Lee Fang and Nagulan Ravi.

Separately, Ng, when contacted by theedgemarkets.com on Monday, said: “[We] are positive for Malaysian planters like Sime Darby Plantation [Bhd], FGV [Holdings Bhd], IOI [Corp Bhd], KLK, Genting Plantations and Hap Seng Plantations [Holdings Bhd], as the [lifting of restrictions on Indonesian workers] could lift their production.”