The company said that the establishment of a new UK-based palm oil processing facility positions New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) more firmly at the higher value-added end of the supply chain and closer to key customers in the EU where the company has an in-depth knowledge and experience of market conditions.
This investment is part NBPOL’s overall growth strategy to build an extensive and fully integrated supply chain for its palm oil operations from seed to finished product.
The refinery facility will be adjacent to a marine port which is suited to larger shipping vessels and thus should enable NBPOL to reduce the unit cost of shipping its crude palm oil from Papua New Guinea.
The company is in the final stages of agreeing the terms of a long-term development of the site, which is subject to planning consent. Development of the site will see the creation of a refining facility with a production capacity of approximately 200,000 metric tonnes of refined palm oil per annum, which is expected to be commissioned by the end of the first quarter of the financial year 2010.
