KL firm wins RI timber rights

KL firm wins RI timber rights

KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones): 0K.P. Keningau Bhd., a Malaysian timber company, said Tuesday it secured exclusive rights to purchase timber logs from a forest concession area covering 46,000 hectares in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

In a statement, Keningau said the exclusive rights were awarded to KPK Timber International Ltd., a joint venture between Keningau unit KPK Ventures Sdn. Bhd. and some Indonesian partners.

The exclusive rights involve the "purchase and (sale of) the extracted timber logs from the forest concession, which sees an estimated 100,000 cubic meters of timber extracted each year," said Matthew Yoong, managing director of Keningau.

In the statement, Keningau said its unit has majority stake in KPK Timber International but didn't disclose the exact size of the stake or name the Indonesian partners.

Yoong said extraction activities on the forest concession is expected to span over 18 years upon start of operations, which is expected in the first half of 2000.