KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil companies are already exceeding Malaysia’s oil extraction rate (OER) targets, a move clearly reflecting the industry’s increased productivity and efficiency.
Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said to maximise the income for plantations and the industry, with prices hovering around RM3,000 per tonne, the OER needed to be upgraded to a much higher level.
“This can be achieved through management efficiency, quality practices and new technologies,” he said at the Palm Oil Industry Q Awards and dinner organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) recently.
He said a one per cent increase in the OER would give an additional income of RM458 million to the country’s palm oil industry based on average price of RM2,665 per tonne between January and November this year.
Ribubonus Palm Oil Mill (Perlis Plantation Oil Palm Bhd), which emerged the winner of the National Oil Extraction Rate Award for 2009/2010, achieved the national OER vision of 25 per cent.
“The awards are a recognition to the industry having achieved excellence and in the process have enhanced the image of the country’s palm oil industry,” the minister said.
He also said the move was a step in the right direction as it would position the industry well to chalk up a revenue of RM178 billion by 2020 envisaged under the Economic Transformation Programme where palm oil has been designated as among the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs).
MPOB chairman Datuk Seri Utama Shahrir Samad, in his speech at the function, revealed that research undertaken by the board had resulted in 475 technologies and new innovations over the past 10 years in all aspects of palm oil including its commercialisation and contribution to industry development.
As of 2010, he said 30 per cent of MPOB technologies have been commercialised in areas such as planting materials, agronomy practices, farm mechanisation, milling and processing, formulation of food products, production of oleochemical products, biomass as well as palm oil-based biodiesel.
Meanwhile, Cargill Palm Products Sdn Bhd emerged champion in the National Refining Mills Category based on their refining efficiency as required by the ‘Refiner Certificate of Competency’ (RCOC). — Bernama