Lankan heavyweights set up joint palm oil mill worth Rs 250m

The joint venture Crude Palm Oil (CPO) mill AEN Palm Oil Processing (Pvt) Ltd. set up by Agalawatte Plantations Ltd. Elpitiya Plantations Ltd. and Namunukula Plantations Ltd. owned Mackwoods, Aitken Spence and Richard Pieris under the company (AENP) commenced commercial production recently.

The plantations which export palm oil products to India have been facing difficulties due to the lack of proper milling facilities where the processing was done in third party owned mills. Further the companies are also planning on expanding their cultivation promote the growing of oil palm with smallholders in the area. Mainly land which cannot be used for the cultivation of other profitable crops and isolated land in the surrounding area would be used for expansion of cultivation. Further the companies are also looking into possibilities of expanding into markets other than India, a joint press release from the companies said.

The opening was a low key affair with all the shareholders, directors and senior management of all three companies attending the ceremony and seeing at first hand the operation of this state-of-the-art palm oil mill, which is only the second such facility in Sri Lanka in the last 30 years or more. (CD)