United Plantations, Oleon invest US$32m in plant (2089)

KUALA LUMPUR: United Plantations Bhd and Oleon NV are investing US$32 million (RM99.8 million) to put up a new plant to produce food emulsifiers in Pulau Indah, Klang.

UniOleon Sdn Bhd, their equally-owned venture company, will make and sell food emulsifiers as early as 2014.

Food emulsifiers are mainly used in the bakery, dairy and confectionary industries.

In a statement yesterday, United Plantations executive director Datuk Carl Bek-Nielsen said the joint venture facilitates have access to new markets.

“In this project, Oleon has partnered with United Plantations, which is the driving force in Malaysia on sustainable palm oil and whose plantations all meet the criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil,” he said.

Oleon NV is Europe’s largest oleochemical group with total capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year of fatty acids, esters and dimers production. It is a member of the French oilseed financial group Sofiprotéol.

Oleon NV’s facilities in Ertvelde (Belgium) and Emmerich (Germany) produce basic oleochemicals (the whole spectrum of fatty acids, glycerin and bio-propylene glycol), and in Oelegem (Belgium) a dimer and ester production.

Its plants in Sandefjor in Norway, Compiègne in France and Port Klang produce esters and resins.

Oleon’s products are marketed under the Radia® and Nouracid® brand names.