HMI to start palm oil plantations

HMI to start palm oil plantations

JAKARTA (JP): PT Himpurna Mitra International (HMI) and Lumivest Resources of Malaysia will establish oil palm plantations on 11,900 hectares of land in West Sumatra, where production is expected to begin in the year 2000.

"The plantation project will need an investment of US$50 million," HMI's president, Edward A. Lee, said after signing agreements yesterday on palm oil plantations and gold mining projects between HMI, Lumivest, Macmahon Limited of Australia and Crystal Hill of Canada.

Edward said that the project will be 85 percent owned by Lumivest Resources and 15 percent by HMI.

"If everything goes well, we will be able to produce 36,000 tons of crude palm oil per year starting in 2000. After four years the production capacity will probably increase to 60,000 tons per year," he said.

He said 75 percent of the plantations' production will be exported and the other 25 percent will be sold on the domestic market.

As for the gold project, HMI's project director, Priyo Pribadi, explained that his company and the other three foreign partners are still surveying prospective locations in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

The three foreign partners are committed to providing a fund of between US$200,000 and US$350,000 as well as mining experts for the survey. (13)