Upstream
Sustainable and responsible agriculture are the bedrock of our operations. Over the years, we have pioneered responsible agricultural techniques that have been adopted across the industry. Today, we are taking it a step further. We are reimagining the future, innovating to transform the nature of work at our plantations.
Production
Nursery
Management
Production
POME, EFB, Kernel Shell
Cattle Products
Sime Darby Oils
SDP's Downstream business, known as Sime Darby Oils (SDO), spans 14 countries with customers spread across the world. SDO delivers bespoke solutions, producing superior, refined oils and fats products, tailor-made to suit the needs of our customers. We produce edible oils, palm oil-based biodiesel, nutraceuticals and other palm oil derivatives.
SDO forges partnerships to bring top-quality and enriching products to our customers in line with our philosophy of "Realising Possibilities, Together".
And Bulk Sales
Refineries
Applications
Preparation
Formula
Nutrition
Glossary:
POME - Palm Oil Mill Effluent
EFB - Empty Fruit Bunches
Seed Production
Sime Darby Plantation Seeds and Agricultural Services (SDPSAS) is the commercial arm of our Research and Development Centre. SDPSAS’ primary focus is to develop and market products and technologies for plantation crops.
SDPSAS is backed by more than 80 years of research work in plantation crops and we have more than 100 scientist and technologists currently working with us.
- 3 Production Centres in Selangor, Johor, and Sabah.
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2 Oil Palm Planting Materials:
Calix 600™ – is our superior yielding oil palm seeds from elite parental lines. Calix 600 gives early or better yields, up to 10 tonnes per ha/year after 24 to 36 months of field planting. The homogenous growth of the seeds improves the efficiency of field operations.
Calix Q6 - The CalixQ6™ is the first genetically tested seeds produced in the oil palm market to minimise both fresh fruit bunches and oil yield extraction (OER) losses due to contaminations. By using genetics technology, any contaminated bunches can be detected and removed from production before reaching customers.
- We also provide technical and consultancy services for seedlings, planting materials and technologies for plantation crops.
- One of our ace technologies is to track and trace our production through the Advanced SEED Intelligent System (AISS), which facilitates traceability. We are able to monitor, control and track seed production processes for all the oil palm seeds we produce.
Oil Palm Nursery
Our Nursery Management division located in Carey Island, Malaysia and Pekan Baru, Indonesia works to ensure high quality seedlings are grown and transplanted to our fields. We have a total of 55 nurseries in Malaysia and 16 nurseries in Indonesia.
A unit under the Nursery Team also plays a key role in maintaining and propagating the Endangered, Rare and Threatened (ERT) Tropical Tree Species within the plantations for biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration projects. This initiative is aligned with SDP's goal towards Net Zero Emmission. These trees are later planted in other estates with projects to identify high conservation value areas. Read more about this here.
Estate Management
SDP's upstream operations are spread across Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands (SI). We are focused on the sustainable cultivation of all our estates, which are 100% RSPO certified.
The Indonesian operations are owned by our subsidiary Minamas Plantation, and in PNG and SI by New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL).
While oil palm is our main crop, we also cultivate rubber and sugar cane, and we rear cattle in PNG for local consumption.
Trading
Our subsidiary, Sime Darby Plantation Agri-Bio Sdn Bhd brings years of experience in the manufacturing and trading of agricultural products that are efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly to support our customers and our own plantation operations.
Some of our best offerings include Drone Services, Harvesting Poles, Leguminous Cover, Barn Owl Boxes, Sime RB Pheremone, Agricultural Tools and Accessories, as well as Pest Control Services.
Rubber
We have 12 rubber plantations or 12,229 ha of planted area in Malaysia. We own a latex concentrate factory in Sungei Senarut Estate (SD Latex Batu Anam) and a rubber factory in Tangkah, with capacities of 11,800 MT and 6,000 MT per year respectively.
Sugarcane and Cattle
New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands manages two 5,637ha sugar plantations as well as four cattle grazing pastures for local consumption.
Ramu Sugar is a household name in PNG, supplying sugar directly to retailers, as well as major international food and beverage brands operating in PNG. NBPOL is also the largest producer of beef in PNG with 2,007 tonnes of meat produced in 2020.
Mills
We have 70 mills located in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands where fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from our estates are delivered to be processed into crude palm oil (CPO).
We produce 2.097 million tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil from our estates, all of which are 100% RSPO, MSPO and/or ISPO certified. About 99% of the crude palm oil we produce is traceable to mills and 74.2% to estates.
Smallholders
An important aspect of our supply chain is the 61,719 smallholders who contribute 9.96% of our total production. Our aim is to support smallholders and build their capacity towards a sustainable supply chain, widening the circle of responsible oil palm producers in the countries we operate in.
We currently work with:
- 13,461 total smallholders in Malaysia
- 31,089 total smallholders in Indonesia
- 17,169 total smallholders in Papua New Guinea and the Soloman Islands
Waste to Wealth
A by-product of palm oil production is bio waste, which includes palm fibre, sludge oil, palm oil mill effluent (POME), empty fruit bunches and kernel shells.
Where possible, we return some of these by-products to the soil, thus reducing the use of chemical fertilisers. Additionally, we are also exploring opportunities to turn these by-products, or waste, to wealth.
Our subsidiary, Sime Darby Plantation Renewable Energy Sdn Bhd (SDPRE), was set up in 2014 to establish ventures in co-developing biogas plants, as well as other renewable energy initiatives such as solar and biomass.
SDP's Biogas plants are also a key strategic initiative to meet our emission reduction targets. Biogas plants developed throughout our entire operations capture methane released from POME which is stored in anaerobic wastewater treatment ponds. The captured methane is then converted into renewable energy (RE). This RE can be exported to the national grid or used for our own consumption.
Today SDPRE has 11 Biogas plants which have reduced carbon emissions by 18%, and 350MW of solar capacity installed.
Food
Sime Darby Oils’ business philosophy is to provide a comprehensive range of the world’s best quality oil and fats products. This gives us an edge in our selling proposition and sets Sime Darby Oils apart from our competition. Today, our products have found a place in millions of homes globally.
Customised Refineries
Our Customised Refineries further process basic refined products, catering to the specific requirements of our customers.
Palm Oil Food Applications
Palm Oil has various uses, mainly in food applications like baking, frying, confectionery and culinary. Refined, Bleached and Deodorised (RBD) Palm Oil is widely used for the production of bakery fats (i.e. shortening and margarine), dairy alternatives (i.e. vegetable ghee and ice creams) and frying fats (i.e. frying shortening). RBD Palm Olein, derived from the fractionation of Palm Oil, is used as cooking oil and frying oil, while RBD Stearin, another derivative of Palm Oil fractionation, is used as an ingredient for shortening and margarine production.
Infant Formula
Infant formula is made with much care through the most stringent and quality assured production process. It is made from superior quality palm fruit which is collected through prioritised milling and refining process. Our primary objective is to ensure the highest standards of food safety and to address any concerns around contaminants created as a result of poorer quality fruits.
Food Safety
Producing a multi-use vegetable oil that is applicable as a frying ingredient, baking component and even in infant formula means constantly experimenting to ensure food safety is a top priority-nay, necessity.
The most common concerns involving palm oil are co-contaminants created during the processing and refining of edible oils called 3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane1,2 diol), Glycidyl Esters (GE) and free fatty acids.
We are aware of these concerns and have in place mitigation methods to ensure the safety of the products we produce.
Bulk Refineries
Bulk Refineries refine and fractionate Crude Palm Oil into basic refined products comprising refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil, palm olein, stearin and palm fatty acid distillates (PFAD).
Trading of Crude Palm Oil and Bulk Sales
Sime Darby Oils is one of the largest producers and exporters of palm oil in the world and thus, our role in trading is prominent in Malaysia. SDO’s Commodity (Bulk) Products are Palm Products, Lauric Products, Liquid Oils and Meals and our largest trading partner country is India.
Non-Food
Our non-food segment comprises of the businesses involving oleochemical, biodiesel and animal feed. To cater the needs of our customers globally, Sime Darby Oils has oleochemical plants situated in the United States and Germany while the biodiesel and animal feed plants are located in Malaysia.
Oleochemical
Oleochemicals are chemical compounds derived from natural fats and oils. The main feedstock for the production of oleochemicals are palm oil and palm kernel oil to produce intermediate products such as Fatty Acids, Fatty Alcohols, Esters and Surfactants, which are then used in the manufacturing of various non-food products as cosmetic, personal care, lubricant and biolubricant. We serve multinational customers in more than 15 countries.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a renewable and biodegradable fuel derived from vegetable and waste oils for local consumption and export markets. Sime Darby Plantation was one of the first companies to commercialise palm oil-based biodiesel production in Malaysia through Sime Darby Oil Biodiesel.
Animal Feed
Our locally produced PURAFEX animal feed is derived mainly from palm kernel expeller (PKE) and refined palm kernel expeller as ingredients for formulated animal feed in the ruminant and poultry industry.