04/06/2010 (Bernama), Kuala Lumpur - Sime Darby Plantation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd, shipped out its first segregated Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) from Kunak in Sabah to Rotterdam on May 29.

The shipment, 3,500 tonnes of segregated CSPO, is scheduled to arrive at the Rotterdam Port in about a month.

Upon arrival in Rotterdam, the CSPO will be transported to Sime Darby-owned Unimills refinery located nearby the port.

It will then be sent to Unilever, one of Unimills major customers and the world's biggest consumer goods companies, to be processed into various home, personal care and food products such as margarine and soap.

Unimills is a leading supplier of natural vegetable oil-based ingredients to the European food industry.

The Sime Darby segregated CSPO follows a supply chain model that sources only certified palm oil and its derivatives under RSPO scheme.

Through this supply chain option, the certified oil is kept separate from those sourced from non-RSPO certified plantations at every stage of the supply chain.

Sime Darby Acting President and Group Chief Executive Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said the shipment added another feather to the Sime Darby Group’s cap and proved its serious commitment in producing RSPO certified oil despite the higher costs involved.

"In October 2008, Sime Darby Plantation became one of the first few companies to be awarded with the RSPO certification, the start of the journey to provide sustainable palm oil for consumption," he said in a statement today.

Azhar said 13 of Sime Darby's Strategic Operating Units (SOUs) have been awarded the RSPO certification.

"It’s our plan to certify all of our 60 SOUs by end of next year,” he said, adding that the 13 certified SOUs have the capacity to produce over 400,000 tonnes of sustainable crude palm oil annually," he said.

RSPO is a global multi-stakeholder initiative towards production of sustainable palm oil.

"Its key objective is to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through cooperation within the supply chain and open dialogue with its stakeholders,” he added.