KUCHING: Pertama Ferroalloys Sdn Bhd will invest RM200mil to develop commercial bamboo plantations within licensed planted forest (LPF) areas in Sarawak.
The project will be carried out in phases.
Pertama Ferroalloys sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp (STIDC) on collaboration on the project during the “Sarawak Week 2025” at the Expo Osaka 2025 in Japan last week.
The signatories were Pertama Ferroalloys deputy president Yuki Nakamura and STIDC general manager Zainal Abidin Abdullah.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Minister for International Trade, Industry and Investment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
Under the MoU, STIDC will assist Pertama Ferroalloys in identifying suitable LPF areas for large-scale bamboo cultivation, supply high-quality bamboo seedlings and provide technical services in bamboo resource management.
Sarawak has approved 43 LPF licences with a gross area of 2.3 million ha for forest plantation projects.
The partnership aims to establish bamboo plantations to meet the raw material needs of Pertama Ferroalloys, thereby reducing reliance on imported resources, like wood charcoal and cork.
It also opens opportunities for value-added bamboo-based industries in collaboration with the local communities.
Pertama Ferroalloys – formerly AML Manganese (M) Sdn Bhd – owns and operates a manganese and ferroalloys smelting plant in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu.
Five years ago, STIDC unveiled the “Sarawak Bamboo Industry Development Masterplan 2020-2030” that outlines eight strategic directions to develop commercial bamboo plantations statewide.
The target is to plant at least 20,000ha of bamboo for industrial purposes to generate RM200mil in export earnings by 2030.
At least 10,000ha of bamboo plantations will be carried out via collaborations with LPF holders and native customary rights landowners.
LPF holders currently plant fast-growing commercial timber species, like acacia mangium and oil palm trees on the licensed land.
STIDC also targets to create at least 200 bamboo community projects involving smallholders.
By 2030, Sarawak aims to have various bamboo-based industries to produce charcoal, pharmacutical, comestic, textile, pulp and paper, food, handicraft and engineered bamboo products, such as bamboo ply, strand woven bamboo and glued-laminated bamboo.
Bamboo is a renewable source of raw materials and has a life cycle of 50 to 80 years.
