23/07/2012 (Business Line) - Sime Darby Bhd, one of the top three largest plantation companies in the world, plans to build palm oil bulking facilites in Liberia or neighbouring areas in the next one or two years.

This will be a preparatory move in storing the edible oil before it is exported to markets such as Africa, Europe and the United States.

Bulking facilities consist of tank farms used to store processed palm oil such as palm olein or crude palm oil in a regulated environment before they are pumped into vessels and shipped to their export destinations.

A source said Sime Darby had tasked Felda-Johore Bulkers Sdn Bhd with building a tank farm as a prepatory move before it starts harvesting its oil palm plantations in Liberia.

Felda-Johore is an associate of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), which was listed on Bursa Malaysia on June 28.

Sime Darby also owns a 10 per cent stake in Felda-Johore. Sime Darby ventured into the African country two years ago and now owns some 220,000ha there.

"Sime Darby has to prepare the storage facilities now before the oil palm trees start to fruit between the fourth and seventh year.

It has to prepare now because the bulking facilites in Liberia are small and not systematic," said the source.

He said the cost, capacity and location of the tank farm or farms were not finalised.

"The bulking facility can also offer its services to other plantation companies in Africa in the future to store all types of edible oils before they are transporterd," he added.

When contacted, FGV president and chief executive officer Datuk Sabri Ahmad said: "Yes and no. We are planning to build storage facilites worldwide but it is now at an early stage."

Pasir Gudang-based Felda-Johore is the largest edible oil bulker in the world with 495 tanks and a combined storage capacity of 870,000 tonnes.

Post-FGV listing, this will mark the first collaboration between FGV and Sime Darby.

Sime Darby also owns Sime Darby Hudson & Knight in South Africa, which is a full-fledged multi-oil refinery producing premium bakery fats, frying oils and bulk industrial fats.

Other plantations companies that own bulking facilities include IOI Corp Bhd with its wholly-owned subsidiary Loders Croklaan in the United States.