IOI Corporation Berhad (IOI) invited a group of media and analysts on a familiarisation trip to our Gomali Estate and Gomali Palm Oil Mill in Johor on 1 June 2023. The much-anticipated visit provided a first-hand experience for our participants to view our sustainable business operations, our digitalisation and mechanisation move, as well as adoption of good environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. It also offered an exclusive preview of our new 20-acre IOI Palm Wood factory in Segamat, Johor, which is scheduled to commence production in July 2023.
During the trip, our participants were able to witness various mechanisation tools implemented to drive productivity in harvesting fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in Gomali Estate, such as battery-operated cutter, which provides manpower saving up to 20%, infield collection using electric mechanical cart, mainline FFB evacuation using tractor grabber mainline and tractor hooklift. Since embarking on our digital transformation journey in 2018, we have also digitalised the grading of our FFB via an Electronic Plantation Monitoring System (EPMS) in a handheld device.
Our commitment to achieving net-zero emissions for Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2040 is also reflected in our effective waste management programme whereby waste products from our oil palm plantations are repurposed into useful applications, as we showcased our sustainable efforts at our Gomali Palm Oil Mill, which included our effluent treatment plant and biogas plant where methane gas is captured from palm oil mill effluent to generate electricity to power our mill office.
The visit continued at IOI Palm Wood, which is a subsidiary of IOI, and Malaysia’s first manufacturing plant to transform oil palm trunks into eco-friendly, sustainable and high-performance OnCore® palm wood panels for the furniture, building and joinery industries. IOI Palm Wood Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Mr Peter Fitch said: “The unique properties of oil palm trunks – that are lightweight yet strong, a good insulator and fire retardancy – present a strong business case to scale up for commercial production and make profit with a purpose.” Our participants were brought around the 20-acre manufacturing plant to view how this eco-friendly material can provide a promising potential to revitalise the Malaysian timber industry.
