Terengganu-based TDM Bhd, plans to plant at least 5,000ha of new oil palm trees every year in Kalimantan as it targets to double the size of its plantations to 70,000ha.
Its CEO Badrul Hisham Mahari said on Thursday as the group’s land in Terengganu was fully planted, “Kalimantan is the next growth area to drive the group’s plantation business forward”.
“Once our plantation in Kalimantan is fully planted and matured, we expect contributions from Kalimantan to be the major income contributor to our plantation division,” he said in a statement.
TDM’s current planted area is 40,518ha in Terengganu and Kalimantan.
TDM also targets to triple its hospital operations by 2018 as part of its expansion plan.
The group said it expected to receive its maiden harvest from its first 400ha which it planted in 2009 in Kalimantan. For 2014, it expected another 1,000ha.
TDM said of the group’s total planted land bank of 40,518ha, about 75 per cent of the group’s planted trees were mature with an average age profile (prime old) ranges between 16-20 years.
It said to ensure sustainability and consistency in production, it maintained a 5 per cent replanting policy at its planted estates in Terengganu to achieve a balance between the young (zero to four years), prime (five to 15 years) and aged (16-25 years) trees.
