Tapping the revenue downstream

1 Oil palm derivatives can help businesses produce higher value-add products, whether food or non-food.

MOST small companies in the palm oil industry view the downstream sector with apprehension due to the high capital and R&D needed to establish refineries and the production of oleochemicals and oleo derivatives.

But it’s not these areas, but further downstream, in the realm of end products that SMEs should look at, says Dr Yeong Shoot Kian, head of the synthesis & product development unit of the advanced oleochemical technology division at Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) .