Sunday, October 19, 2014

MYpalmoil

MYpalmoil


CBIP: Good order flow for Modipalm mills

Posted: 17 Oct 2014 07:07 PM PDT

Subang Jaya: CB INDUSTRIAL Product Holding Bhd (CBIP), which holds the patent for constructing Modipalm mills, said its current order book of some RM500 million will keep it busy for another 18 months.

CBIP managing director Lim Chai Beng said while low palm oil prices were slowing oil palm estate owners' investments, orders were still coming in for mill upgrades.

"We're getting orders, although there may be slight delays here and there. Out of the RM500 million orders to put up new mills and upgrade old ones, 70 per cent are from outside Malaysia.

"Old mills in Malaysia need to be upgraded and our Modipalm technology has been proven to minimise oil loss. This helps contribute to better oil extraction rates at the mills," Lim said after the company's extraordinary general meeting held here yesterday. 

CBIP shareholders approved the company's plan to issue 1-for-1 bonus shares and free warrants.

Lim said oil palm planters have everything to gain if they upgraded their conventional mills to an automated Modipalm. Its continuous steriliser system is compact, he said, as it took up less space, fuel and labour; produced more and higher quality oil; and therefore, the overall impact is kinder to the environment.

At a Modipalm mill, there is no need for tractors and hydraulic skid-steer loaders or wire-rope winches to move the fruit-cages around. There is also no need for monorail hoists to lift the cages to the threshing machine. 

This means less machinery to maintain and, in two shifts, the Modipalm mill needs only 30 workers, or half the staff strength to operate a conventional 60-tonne mill processing 300,000 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches in a year.

"Fewer workers also means less houses to be built on the plantation. So, you see, with tremendous improvement in safety and minimal oil wastage it is worthwhile to upgrade to a Modipalm mill," Lim said.

On CBIP's other sources of income, executive director Mak Chee Meng said the company's oil palm landbank in Indonesia totalled 65,000ha, of which about 10 per cent is planted up. 

In Malaysia, CBIP has a joint venture with Tradewinds Group, with its portion of investment amounting to 7,500ha.

"We're now working hard to top up the landbank in Indonesia. We may be slow (in land acquisition) but we are sure in our investments because we go through all the legal compliance step by step," Mak said.