Nextgreen Global builds MYR 600m palm-waste pulp plant with IOI Corp and Xiamen C&D

Malaysian biomass processor Nextgreen Global is developing a MYR 600m pulp plant at its Green Technology Park in Pekan, Pahang, with plantation group IOI Corp and China's Xiamen C&D Paper & Pulp Group, using empty fruit bunches from palm oil mills as feedstock. The 43-acre plant has an initial capacity of 100,000 tonnes of paper pulp a year and is due for completion within 18 to 20 months; both joint ventures were announced on 8 April. Marubeni has signed a letter of intent as an off-taker, and capacity is planned to reach 400,000 tonnes within three years of start-up.

Why this mattersA 100,000-tonne non-wood pulp line gives regional buyers a fibre source outside conventional forestry supply, with 400,000 tonnes targeted within three years.

• The plant in Pekan, Pahang will cost MYR 600m, span 43 acres and produce 100,000 tonnes of paper pulp a year from oil palm empty fruit bunches, with completion expected in 18 to 20 months
• Nextgreen IOI Pulp Sdn Bhd, the joint venture with IOI Corp announced on 8 April, will hold 75% of a further new company developing the plant, with Xiamen C&D Paper & Pulp Group taking 25%
• Xiamen C&D will help finance the project and act as an off-taker; Nextgreen also holds a letter of intent from Japan's Marubeni Corp as an off-taker
• Capacity is planned to rise to 200,000 tonnes and then 400,000 tonnes a year within three years of the facility's commencement
• Further pulp facilities are planned in Sabah, Sarawak and Indonesia
• Nextgreen commercialised a 10,000-tonne-a-year pulp facility in 2022 using its patented PRC-RBMP process, after investing about MYR 20m over two decades

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