O’Neill indicates government may open up petrol supply market, Australia questions if vegetable import ban breaches global trade rules, and plans for an 800,000 hectare forest in Western Highlands Province. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says Puma Energy‘s decision to limited petrol supplies in Port Moresby is a prompt for the Government to review current arrangements that have seen one company able to hold disproportionate control over the fuel market in Papua New Guinea’.

‘Due to the lack of liquidity in the forex [foreign exchange] markets, Puma Energy has been only able to convert very limited amounts of local currency into USD to pay for it supplies,’ Country Manager, Jim Collings, said in a media release. O’Neill also says Puma’s decision ‘has more to do with unpaid import GST worth K4 billion than it has to do with any other issue’.

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A Puma service station.

The Australian Government is reportedly seeking clarification on whether PNG’s recent import ban on fresh vegetables complies with global trade rules. An Agriculture Department spokesman said it is seeking clarification on whether it is consistent with World Trade Organisation rules to which PNG is committed as a WTO member. Australian fruit and vegetable imports to PNG totalled A$3.8 million in 2014–15.

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The Papua New Guinea Forest Authority and three local companies have signed an agreement to develop the Waghi Plantation Project in Western Highlands Province. The three local companies are Woodstar Ltd, M2K Services Ltd and Danoni Construction Ltd. The Authority says it plans to plant out 800,000 hectares and the project could run for 50 years.

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Forty-two aspiring business people are presenting their business plans and start-up concepts to investors, business leaders and donor agencies as part of the ‘Kumul Pitch’ by Kumul GameChangers this week.

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The Works Dept has signed an agreement with China Harbor Construction to start on a new four-lane highway stretching from Keltiga Junction to the Kagamuga Airport turnoff in Western Highlands province. The road will cost K265 million, says Works Minister, Francis Awesa.

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The Porgera gold mine in Enga province. Credit: Barrick Gold Corp.

Zijin Mining Group Chairman Chen Jinghe expects gold demand to rise and help push the price of the precious metal back to about US$1,200 an ounce next year. Jinghe’s comments come after the China’s Zijin recently completed a deal to buy 50 per cent of Barrick Gold’s Porgera mine in Enga Province.

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InterOil Corp has announced that the PRL15 joint venture has started drilling a sidetrack well at the Antelope-4 site as part of its appraisal campaign at the Elk-Antelope gas field. Well operations at the  site had been suspended since May 2015 before the resumption of work in mid-August.

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Work has commenced on a K11.6 million project funded by the Australian Government to repair the roads in and around Arawa on Bougainville.

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Bank of South Pacific has announced payment of an interim dividend of 22.5 toea per ordinary share this year. BSP Chairman Sir Kostas Constantinou said the group’s profit after tax for the six months of this year was K266.9 million, an increase of 1.7% over the corresponding period last year.

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Nambawan Super has signed an agreement with Post PNG to allow members in remote areas access at selected post offices nationwide. CEO Garry Tunstall says over the next 12- to 18 months, the fund will increase its branches from 17 to 30.

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The Rural Industry Council says it is concerned that the Coffee Industry Corporation is currently without a board. Executive officer Graham Ainui has also stressed that the production and exports of coffee have been on a decline which must be arrested.

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A 3d printer filament made from coffee waste. Credit: 3Dom

And finally, yet another use for used coffee beans. A US company called 3Dom is making a 3D printer filament spool out of recycled coffee waste.  The filament—and printed objects—have a rich brown color with a noticeable natural grain.  According to the company, ‘a cup printed with Wound Up is a true ‘coffee cup’.