Equatorial Palm Oil (LON:PAL), the sustainable oil palm plantation developer working on projects in the West African state of Liberia, reported this morning that its first palm oil processing mill had been delivered on schedule at its Palm Bay plantation. The mill, which was manufactured by Modipalm Engineering in Malaysia, is being constructed over the next few months by a specialised team of engineers who will then remain on site to oversee an active training programme to ensure that production of crude palm oil (CPO) is optimised. Production of CPO is set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2010, which will provide early stage cashflow to assist in the development of the rest of the company's 169,000 hectare land position.
Once fully functional, the mill will be able to process five tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per hour. Those bunches will be harvested from existing oil palms at Palm Bay, where reactivation of 3,000 hectares of plantation is underway, as well as from local out growers. Last week, EPO’s chairman, Michael Frayne, spoke to Stockopedia about his plans for the development of the company and the opportunities he sees in the market. You can read that interview here.
Commenting today, Mr Frayne said: “Delivery of our first, and currently Liberia's only commercial palm oil processing mill, marks another key milestone in EPO's development plans to become CPO producers by the end of 2010. Revenue from this initial production will contribute to funding our development programme, which is already well underway, with batches of oil palm seeds now arriving each month at our nurseries to coincide with the planned planting schedule.”
Equatorial Palm Oil (LON:PAL) - Good news on the mill.
