Airports, the national airline, a diamond mine, a parcel delivery service and a forestry company are all due to go under the hammer.

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The sale of the government's stake in Aer Lingus and part of the forestry company Coillte will be considered when the time is right.

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This is in line with the rest of the nation's corporate elite, from Anglo American subsidiary Anglo Platinum to brewer SAB Miller to the big forestry company Sappi.

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The South African Forestry Company, Safcol, also donated land.

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The reaction was sharp in part because it came on the heels of the suspension of an unrelated company, Hong Kong-listed China Forestry Holdings, for accounting irregularities.

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"We never dreamed we'd overcome the wall around domestic growers, " says Tatsuo Horiuchi, representative director of Dole Japan and the only foreign company official advising the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on farm law revisions.

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Roughly 50% of the raw materials that the company uses for its products come from agriculture and forestry.

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The company also hopes to launch what it calls a "sustainable forestry scorecard" and begin composting programs in some of its locations.

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It was run by the Forestry Commission and Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust until last year, when the Highland Perthshire Community Interest Company took over.

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For example, Mitsui announced recently that it has acquired two Australian forestry companies: Great Southern Timber Holdings, which specializes in forest planting, and Hansol, a company that processes and exports wood chips.

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