Oil Palm Plantation & Milling

Wilmar is one of the world’s largest oil palm plantation owners with a total planted area of 231,697 hectares (ha) as at 31 December 2022, of which about 65% is in Indonesia, 26% in East Malaysia and 9% in Africa. 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.

Through joint ventures, we own plantations in Uganda and West Africa of about 54,000 ha. We also directly manage 36,390 ha under smallholder schemes in Indonesia and Africa and 167,999 ha under smallholders schemes through associates in Africa. We are committed to purchasing all the fruits produced by the small landholders’ plantations.

We have a strong team of managers and staff who are devoted to the common objective of achieving the highest standards for our plantations. We adopt best management practices including good field and harvesting standards and timely application of fertilisers to optimise crop yields.

Apart from plantations, Wilmar also owns palm oil mills to process fruits from our own and surrounding plantations. The key products of oil palm cultivation and milling are crude palm oil and palm kernel.

Sustainability

In ensuring that our plantations and mills operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, we are guided by our No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation Policy that, applies to our own operations as well as all third-party suppliers. Concurrently, we continue to pursue the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification standard as a core element of our sustainability strategy for our upstream operations.

Fertiliser

Wilmar’s fertiliser operations and markets are located in Indonesia and Malaysia. We are one of the largest fertiliser players in Indonesia, with 1.2 million MT per annum production capacity dedicated to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) compound fertilisers. We have a further 100,000 MT capacity in Sabah to complement the Group’s activities in East Malaysia. We also engage in the trading and distribution of various straight fertilisers and agrochemicals, making us a one-stop supplier for agriculture inputs.

The fertiliser business has been geared towards the oil palm sector, in line with one of Wilmar’s core businesses. The remarkable growth in new planted acreages in the past decade has resulted in rising demand for fertilisers, thereby leading to the expansion of the fertiliser business unit. Customers for the fertiliser products are also our suppliers of fresh fruit bunches, crude palm oil and palm kernel, thus we have been able to tap this captive market and minimise credit risk.

Sales Enquiries

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Indonesia
Medan
Tel: +62 61 4102 7777
Jakarta
Tel: +62 21 2938 0777

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Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3 2776 8788

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 reaches peak production in years seven to 18 before gradually decreasing thereafter. The typical commercial lifespan of an oil palm is approximately 25 years.

Fully mature oil palms produce 18 to 30 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per hectare. The 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 FFB.

The ripeness of FFB 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.

Milling of FFB takes place within 24 hours from the harvesting of FFB. FFB are first transferred to the palm oil mills for sterilisation by applying high-pressure steam, whereupon the palm fruits are enzyme-deactivated and separated from the palm bunches.

After steaming, the palm fruitlets are crushed in a pressing machine to obtain crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel. Waste and water is then cleared and separated from the CPO by means of a centrifuge. The cleared CPO emerging from the centrifuge is then sent for refining while the palm kernel nut is sent for crushing. The empty fruit bunches and liquid waste arising from the process are recycled as fertiliser in the plantations.

Cultivation

Harvesting & Oil Palm Yield

The ripeness of FFB 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.