Felda Global buying more land, aims to emerge world leader in palm oil industry (5222)

KUALA LUMPUR: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH),
the world's third largest palm oil company by hectarage, plans to buy
150,000 ha estate land over five years to realise its cherished vision
to emerge as the world leader in the palm oil industry.
President and chief executive officer Datuk Sabri Ahmad said the purchase would, however, depend on global market prospects for palm oil and the benefits from the purchase.
FGVH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Felda Holdings Bhd, made a strong debut on Bursa Malaysia recently.
Felda Holdings
is one of Malaysia's largest and most diversified agro-based
enterprises which runs the commercial business related to oil palm and
palm oil.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Sabri: ‘FGVH aims to be the w orld No. 1 player in the palm oil industry in the next eight years.’ Sabri
said: “FGVH aims to be the world No. 1 player in the palm oil industry
in the next eight years. By acquiring another 150,000ha, our company's
total land bank will touch one million hectare,” he told Bernama.
Currently, the company has 350,000ha of plantation land and is managing 500,000ha owned by Felda settlers.
On FGVH's cross-border expansion plans, Sabori said the potential Asean countries were Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.
“We
are focusing on the three countries in our phase one expansion plan and
if there are opportunities, we intend to expand our plantation and
manufacturing sectors.
“However, the cross-border expansion plan is still at the initial stage.
“We are conducting feasibility, technical, financial and risk studies.
“These studies are important to face any business risks in future,” he said.
However,
to prepare for the expansion plan, Sabri said high-yield oil palm trees
are being planted in 15,000ha in East Kalimantan to replace old,
unproductive and uneconomic oil palms.
He said plans were also
afoot to expand the downstream sector by opening more factories to
package palm oil-derived cooking oil and manufacture margarine a palm
oil by-product in Cambodia and Vietnam.
“As the main component
of Felda, FGVH's plantation unit, which contributes 85% of the group's
total revenue, is our top priority now,” he added. Bernama