JES Int'l switches from mines to forestry

LOSS-making Chinese shipbuilder JES International, which earlier turned to a Xinjiang mining exploration firm for a new source of income, is now acquiring a controlling stake in an African forestry business.

At the same time, it is putting on hold its investment into Mineriver.

The mainboard-listed group has entered into an agreement to buy 51 per cent of Scibois Co Limited, which has a 75 per cent stake in a timber extraction firm.

The latter has a licence to harvest an area of 229,440 hectares of forest, slightly more than three times Singapore's size, until May 2036. This is e…