Property Hunter Magazine Issue 91 - August 2017 | Page 63

Tangshan, along with three other Chinese spearhead downstream palm oil industries and companies signed memorandums of thus far it has attracted about RM3.5 billion in understanding with POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd, investments. developer of POIC Lahad Datu, in Beijing in May. The park with about 2,000 acres developed, The visit here was at the invitation of is supported by a comprehensive port system Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and including a dry bulk terminal, a liquid terminal Commodities Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur, and a soon-to-be-commissioned container who witnessed the Beijing signing. terminal. Port operations began in March 2013. It handled about 500,000 tons of cargo Based in Tangshan, Hebei province, Tangshan belonging to its investors and is lobbying for an Chunhua has 14 subsidiaries and representative open-port status. Sabah produces about 30% of offices in Malaysia, Senegal, Canada and Hong Malaysia’s palm oil, most of which is exported. Kong. The state government’s desire to promote The company is a major producer of peanut downstream industries using palm oil and oil and is diversifying into palm oil. It has a biomass is hampered by supply assurance 100,000-hectare peanut plantation in Sudan issues. and recently completed a palm oil refinery and fractionation plant at Tangshan City. More than 80% of oil palm plantations in Sabah are owned by big-name players based “We are keen to work with palm oil players in in Peninsular Malaysia and most of them have Malaysia, especially in the business of blending committed their output to export. cooking oil for northern region of China, and will be expanding further downstream to produce Efforts to amalgamate oil palm biomass from margarine and shortening,” Qi told state the dispersed plantations and mills have been officials. met with logistics difficulties and the diverse interests of the raw material owners. In addition to oils and fats business, Tangshan Chunhua is actively involved in bulking of palm Meanwhile, Sabah remains committed to oil, food processing, logistics, trading and the objectives of the oil palm NKEA (national animal feed. key economic area) which seeks to triple oil palm revenue by 2020, as well as the National POIC Lahad Datu was set up in 2005 to Biomass Strategy. “We are keen to work with palm oil players in Malaysia, especially in the business of blending cooking oil for northern region of China, and will be expanding further downstream to produce margarine and shortening,” www.PropertyHunter.com.my 63