Government issues 11 APs for river sand exports
By Lai Ying Yi/ theedgemarkets.com 26 Jun 2020, 09:32 am —_ Updated - 12:55 pm
KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has
so far issued 11 approved permits (APs) for river sand exports.
It is understood that the AP holders are allowed to export river sand and other
minerals to Brunei, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India,
Japan and Maldives.
The ministry could not be reached for comment on the matter.
It was previously reported that Malaysia had banned the export of sea sand for
environmental reasons. River sand is permitted for export only with the prime
minister's approval.
Pekan-based Legasi Lestari Sdn Bhd is one of the companies that has been
granted the AP issued by the ministry with validity until July 2027.ACE Market-listed Kanger International Bhd announced that it is forming a joint
venture with Legasi Lestari to export sand to China and Hong Kong.
According to a filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, Legasi
Lestari was founded in July 2012 with a share capital of RM2 million. However,
it is understood that the company commenced exporting river sand from 2017.
The major shareholders of Legasi Lestar are Rahim Ali, who owns a 50% stake
in the company, Ainfarynor Andiana Rabuang @ Rabuan, with a 40% stake, and
Datuk Wan Mohamad Razali Wan Mahussin, who owns the remaining 10%
stake.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), Legasi Lestari reported a net
loss of RM239,129. The company's total assets stood at RM793,302 with
retained loss of RM1.96 million as at end-2018.
It is understood that Lestars latest move of appointing distributorship to
Kanger to explore the China and Hong Kong market is to leverage on the
latter’s operational experience in China.
Kanger's spokesperson told theedgemarkets that at the current stage, the two
parties are still in the exploring phase.
Another listed company that drew eyeballs on the sand export venture recently
is Ageson Bhd, which was slapped with a query from Bursa Malaysia, after
announcing it has bagged a mammoth RMB44.8 billion (RM27.5 billion)
purchase order from China's Guangzhou Kaishengda Industrial Co Ltd for the
supply of river and sea sand for 15 years.
In the latest development, Ageson formed a 70-30 joint venture with Bintang
Dayang Sdn Bhd (BDSB), which has sand operation business partners, namely
Tagas Juta Sdn Bhd (TJSB) and Malayan Energistik Solutions Sdn Bhd
(MESSB).
TJSB is a holder of a sand concession licence from Sabah with validity until
December 2021. It undertakes sand dredging activities from the river at Sungai
Labuk, Beluran in Sabah for sand export to China, Hong Kong, Macau and
Taiwan.As for MESSB, it had received the special approval from the Chief Minister's
Department of Sabah to allow for annual export of 10 million cubic metres of
sand in three years, even without an AP from the federal government, if the
sand is exported to Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Macau.
According to World’s Top Exports, an independent educational website,
Malaysia is one of the top 10 exporters of sand in the world, and is also one of
the fastest-growing sand exporters, rising 103.9% from 2015.