Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (RM24.00/share) Expects to see six plants running, Indonesia factories to commence ops this year

Plantation giant Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) expects to see operations kick off for three new palm oil mills along with three new refineries in Indonesia this financial year.

The group said the construction of the three palm oil refineries, of which two are located in Sumatra and one in Belitung Island, has progressed well and were expected to be commissioned early to mid 2013.

Chief executive officer Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian said the group embarked on a series of capacity expansion projects in 2012, with earlier announced projects expected to come on-stream in stages in 2013 namely in the fatty acids, fatty alcohols and fatty esters business.

He expects that in the next two years, a substantial quantity of fatty acids would come on-stream throughout the world, especially in Indonesia, including their 165,000 tonnes in PT KLK Dumai and 100,000 mt from KLK Emmerich, Germany coming up in the new year.

He said similarly for fatty alcohol, total world capacity would be increased and this includes 80,000 tonnes from KLK Oleomas. The worldwide overcapacity for merchant market fatty acids and fatty alcohol is estimated to be 40% and 30% respectively. - StarBiz