26/1/06 KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Chin Teck Plantations Bhd will replant 800 hectares of oil palm plantations in Malaysia this year, and plant an additional area of 4,000 hectares in Indonesia over the next three years to meet supply.

 The replanting programme will be continued as 42.02 percent of the matured palms are more than 20 years old, Chin Teck's executive director Wong Aun Phui said after the company's annual general meeting here Thursday.

He said the palms could only produce palm oil from the fifth year with the prime period from the eighth to 15th year in a cycle of 25 years.

In its financial year ended August 31, 2005, Chin Teck recorded a revenue of RM94,969,000, down by 2.2 percent compared to RM97,104,000 in the previous year.

Wong attributed the revenue drop to weather and pricing factors, which affected the production of palm oil that comprised 95 percent of the company's business.

He said the company was, however, optimistic that palm oil will contribute positively and significantly to Chin Teck's future results when the immature palms attained maturity and entered the prime production cycle.

He also said that the price of crude palm oil was expected to increase this year from RM1,400 per tonne to RM1,500 per tonne due to demand.

-- BERNAMA