Sabah’s Kunak Lipids to be Malaysia’s first large-scale palm oil waste tocotrienol producer

Deputy Plantations and Commodities Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin (standing second right) witnessing the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between Kunak Lipids Sdn Bhd group managing director and chief executive officer Victor Ationg (seated second left) and BOCE Trade Service Company Ltd general manager, Qiu Rong Yu (seated second right).

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah-owned Sawit Kinabalu is set to be Malaysia's first large-scale producer of tocotrienol from palm oil waste.

Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025, employing proprietary technology to extract tocotrienols from refined byproducts.

Tocotrienols are a form of vitamin E used for a variety of health and therapeutic purposes due to their potent antioxidant properties.

This comes after Sawit Kinabalu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through Kunak Lipids with Shanghai-based Boce Trade Service Company Ltd, to produce palm oil refinery by-products to meet Chinese market demand.

At the signing, Kunak Lipids Sdn Bhd was represented by its group managing director and chief executive officer Victor Ationg and Boce Trade Service Company Ltd by its general manager, Qiu Rong Yu.

The ceremony was witnessed by Deputy Plantations and Commodities Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin at Shangri-la Pudong Shanghai on Thursday (June 13).

Also present were Kunak Lipids director and deputy chief executive officer Datin Stella Ambrose and BOCE Trade Service Company Ltd managing director Goh Teck Bin.

During the visit to Shanghai from June 9 to 14, the Sawit Kinabalu team engaged with potential distributors and manufacturers who expressed strong interest in tocotrienols and other phytonutrients derived from palm oil.

Cosmetics manufacturers, in particular, are keen to obtain tocotrienols for their products.

Additionally, the team identified a significant demand for biodiesel derived from palm oil.