Wilmar engages in oil palm cultivation in Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia, our plantations are located in Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan (southern region) while in Malaysia, they are located in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. As of 31 December 2009, we have a total planted area of more than 235,000 hectares.

Wilmar intends to grow its plantation business through greenfield projects and acquisitions to tap on the growing demand for palm oil.

We own palm oil mills to process fruits from our own and surrounding plantations into crude palm oil and palm kernel.

In addition to holding land rights to plantation land, we administer approximately 33,867 hectares of oil palm plantation under a Plasma Scheme in Indonesia, which is a programme for the development of oil palm plantations for small landholders by a developer of plantations. We are committed to purchasing all the fruits produced by the small landholders’ plantations.

Germinated seeds are planted and the seedlings spend about a year in the nursery before being transferred to the fields. Here, the young palms are planted about nine metres apart resulting in 128 to 140 trees per hectare.

Oil palms generally begin to produce fruits 30 months after being planted in the fields with commercial harvest commencing six months later. However, the yield of an oil palm is relatively low at this stage. As the oil palm continues to mature, its yield increases and it reaches peak production in years seven to 18. Yield starts to gradually decrease after 18 years. The typical commercial lifespan of an oil palm is 25 years, after which it is no longer commercially viable for harvesting.

Fully mature oil palms produce 18 to 30 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) per hectare. Yield depends on a variety of factors, including age, seed quality, soil and climatic conditions, quality of plantation management and the timely harvesting and processing of FFBs.

The ripeness of FFBs harvested is critical in maximising the quality and quantity of palm oil extracted. Harvested fruits must be processed within 24 hours to minimise the build-up of fatty acids.