TH plantations to acquire Sarawak, Kalimantan land

TH Plantations Bhd, in a move to expand its land bank, is planning to acquire 19,782 hectares of oil palm plantation land in Sarawak and in East Kalimantan for RM92 million.

With the exercise, the group's land bank would increase to 59,154 hectares from its present 39,372 hectares, said chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Azwar Zainal Aminuddin.

"For the land acquisition in Sarawak, we are targeting for end-May, and end-August for (the acquisition in) East Kalimantan.

"We've an appetite for more land bank expansion and are eyeing another 20,000 hectares of plantation land, also in Sarawak and in Kalimantan, and this will bring our total land bank to 70,000 hectares by 2015," said Zainal Azwar.

Speaking to reporters after the company's annual general meeting, Zainal Azwar, who is also TH Plantations executive director, said the acquisition would be satisfied by internally-generated funds.

He said the plantation land being acquired would reach maturity between three and four years and was expected to contribute to group's earnings thereafter.

On projected fresh fruit bunches (FFB) growth, Zainal Azwar said it was projected to increase by between eight and 10 per cent this year.

Meanwhile, chairman Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron said palm oil prices were expected to remain firm over the next six to seven months as soyoil supply remained tight because of the South American soyabean drought.

"We are now fetching between RM3,400 and RM3,500 per tonne for this period, as predicted and going forward, it depends on how the severity of the soybean shortage will play out," he said.

"Malaysia hopes to supply approximately 19.3 million tonnes of palm oil for this year compared with 18.9 million tonnes recorded last year," he added. -- BERNAMA