IOI Corp inks agreement to set up coconut mill

PETALING JAYA: IOI Corp Bhd and Mega Star Holding Pte Ltd have signed a joint venture agreement to develop Malaysia’s first state-of-the-art, integrated and sustainable coconut mill complex in Segamat, Johor.

Mega Star, an investment company based in Singapore, is affiliated to Ting Hsin International Group.

This is a China-based conglomerate which has an extensive food and beverage business across China and Taiwan.

In a statement, IOI Corp said the integrated complex, involving an estimated investment cost of RM100mil, would have a processing capacity of 100,000 coconuts per day upon its completion in the fourth quarter of 2027.

“The complex is designed to progressively scale up production to 300,000 coconuts per day as the existing trees mature and IOI’s coconut plantations are expanded to approximately 5,000ha within the next two years.”

The complex will process mature coconuts into high-value downstream products, namely coconut oil and concentrated coconut water.

It is the first coconut complex of its kind to utilise the latest robotic and IR4.0 processing equipment, and incorporate a self-generating energy system by utilising its by-product coconut husks as biofuel in the production process.

“There is also a plan to convert coconut shells into high-value activated carbon in the near future in line with our strategy to adopt the circular economy model,” said IOI Corp.