A Malaysian parliament review of Lynas Corporation is expected to delve into decade-old matters including the awarding of a tax holiday to the rare earths producer, as the value of the company's shares fell to a 56-week low.
Lynas declined to comment on Tuesday when asked if it had received formal notification of the review, which has been widely anticipated in Malaysian media since a change of government in May and is expected to be led by the company's long-standing opponent Fuziah Salleh.
As recently as Monday Lynas said it had not received formal notification, but was expecting more details this week.
Ms Salleh, a member of parliament for the Kuantan region in which Lynas' rare earths refinery is based, told Bloomberg by text message this week that the review committee had been formed and would begin work this week.
She did not respond to inquiries by The Australian Financial Review, but was quoted in the Malay Mail publication saying that her review would be fair to Lynas, which mines rare earths in Western Australia and refines them into saleable products in Malaysia.
"We will be fair and objective in our review, especially on the issue of the plant's removal of all wastes, including the products made from the wastes, which are hazardous to public health and the environment," she reportedly said.
But she told Malay Mail her first task would be to examine all documents between Lynas and the former government led by rival coalition Barisan Nasional.
That will likely ensure the revisiting of a controversial 12-year tax holiday, which was promised to Lynas by the Malaysian government in 2008 in recognition of its status as a "pioneer" investor in Malaysia.
Lynas told the ASX last week that its pioneer status would run until 2026, but was subject to renewal in 2019.
The tax holiday has long been treated with suspicion by Lynas opponents, but the man who helped secure it, Lynas' former executive chairman, Nick Curtis, declined an opportunity to defend his legacy on Tuesday.
The review is indicative of an apparent scepticism within the new Malaysian government towards foreign investment. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad recently warned against "new colonialism" via international trade and threatened to scrap Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in Malaysia.
Now into her third term in office, Ms Salleh was a co-founder of protest group "Save Malaysia Stop Lynas" and has campaigned against Lynas for the best part of a decade.
The campaign reached fever pitch between 2011 and 2013 when Lynas was building the refinery and seeking operating licences, but was the subject of mass protests in Malaysia, Australia and other nations.
In 2011 Ms Salleh published a "dramatic comedy" cooking film on YouTube featuring two-headed chickens, fluorescent carrots and diners foaming at the mouth in an attempt to raise concerns about the risk of radioactive waste from the Lynas refinery.
Lynas shares lost a further 5 per cent of their value on Tuesday, adding to Monday's 18 per cent slump. The stock closed 8.5¢ lower at $1.63 on Tuesday, its lowest level since August 30, 2017.
Lynas shares were trading as high as $2.89 in the days before the Malaysian election in May, but have since lost about 44 per cent of their value.
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