Palm oil company PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya (ANJ) says that despite ongoing replanting program in some of its plantations, the company managed to produce 7,6 percent more Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs) in 2018 compared to the previous year.
Announcing its operational performance for the year-end, dated December 31, 2018, ANJ said that the company produced 786,104 metric tons of FFB in 2018 compared to the 730,356 metric tons produced in 2017.
The company attributed the increase in FFB production mostly to increase of production from its North Sumatra I estate and Belitung Island estate, as well as from its newly mature West Kalimantan estate.
“Despite the replanting program in Belitung Island and North Sumatera I estates, the production in these two estates was higher than 2017 due to the more conducive weather conditions over the last eighteen months or so,” the company said in its latest newsletter.
ANJ said that it also increased its purchase from the third party in 2018, which was about 60 percent more than in the previous year.
In total, it’s Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Kernel (PK) production increased by 17,8 and 22,7 percent to 248,694 and 54,033 metric tons respectively in 2018. The Company also reported an increase in CPO and PK sales volumes, by 17,8 and 26,8 percent to 246,138 and 54,285 metric tons in 2018
In the newsletter, ANJ also reported that the construction of its CPO and Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) mill at its West Papua estates reached 65,6 percent completion by end of last year. The CPO mill will comprise of two lines with each having a capacity of 45 metric tons per hour.
The first line of the CPO Mill and the PKO mill are expected to be ready for commissioning in the third quarter of 2019, in time to process the first FFB production at its West Papua estates.