Harn Len Corp Bhd (HLCB) will invest RM40mil in its new palm oil mill located in the Masranti Estate in Samarahan, Sarawak. Executive chairman Tan Sri Low Nam Hui said work on the project would start in June 2010 and the mill would be completed a year later. He said the mill, which could process 60 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) an hour, would serve both the Masranti and Harn Len Pelita Bangunan estates with a combined area of 7,284ha. “The new mill is to accommodate the anticipated increase in yields in both the estates in Sarawak,” Nam Hui told StarBiz after the company AGM recently. He said the company also operated a palm oil mill in the 860ha Lian Hup Estate in Mukim Keratong, Rompin, Pahang. This mill could process 40 tonnes of FFB an hour. Executive director Low Kueck Shin said the company was still confident that Malaysia would be able to maintain its leading role in the global oil palm industry. He said Indonesia was now the world’s main producer of crude palm oil due to its vast land areas but the country still had a long way to catch up with Malaysia. Kueck Shin said Malaysia might not be able to compete with Indonesia in terms of plantation acreage but Malaysia was way ahead in terms of logistics and infrastructure. Plantation companies including those from Malaysia that wanted to expand their operations there not only had to invest heavily in infrastructure but also faced bureaucratic hurdles, Kueck Shin said. He said in the current recession, China and India were the two countries that led the demand for oil palm-related products from Malaysia. On another note, Kueck Shin said the company’s subsidiary Nusantara Daya Sdn Bhd was studying the feasibility of proceeding with property development in Johor Baru, in view of the current economic recession. The proposed development is located on three parcels of freehold land measuring 5,164 sq m. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008, it recorded RM20.36mil in profit and RM137.52mil in revenue against RM12.63mil and RM101.06mil respectively in 2007. Source : The Star by Zazali Musa