16/07/2012 (Borneo Post) - The Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) project in Bintulu is expected to attract investments totalling RM600 million within a period of five to seven years.

Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) officer Adi Asad opined that the implementation of POIC here was timely in view of the high number of oil palm plantation activities in the region.

In the Bintulu hinterland alone, about 250,000 hectares of land had been cultivated with oil palm to date.

“POIC is located within the close proximity of the Bintulu deepsea port and bulker facilities,” he said when delivering a paper ‘Opportunities of Oil Palm in Sarawak’ on behalf of BDA general manager Datu Mohidin Ishak at the Malaysia International Oil & Gas and Palm Oil Technology Expo 2012 here recently.

Adi told the expo participants that POIC, which spanned about 150 acres, served as a centralised zone of sorts for the oil palm downstream industries.

At present, refineries, palm kernel crushing, storage and warehousing are located at different sites within the Kidurong Industrial Area (KINDA) alongside other industries.

In a nutshell, the main objectives of POIC are to accelerate the development of the palm oil downstream industry; to add higher value to both the upstream and downstream production chain; to assist in the development of related supporting industries; to create more jobs and business opportunities; and to sharpen the competitive edge of the industry.

“POIC would be able to attract local and foreign investors to set up their operations in Bintulu, especially in the downstream industries.”

Currently, there are four approved projects at POIC Bintulu. They are undertaken by SOP Industries Sdn Bhd, JH Logistics Sdn Bhd, Cipta Sawit Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Land (Kemena Park) Sdn Bhd.

SOP Industries is into the production of RBD palm olein, crude palm kernel, oil (CPKO), RBD palm stearin, palm kernel cake/expeller (PKE), palm bio diesel and crude glycerol, while JH Logistics is into the processing of palm oil kernel, kernel cake and packaging.

Cipta Sawit focuses on the processing of palm oleochemicals for cosmetics and toiletries, while Sarawak Land (Kemena Park) deals with the processing of palm oil related products.