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LONDON (Alliance News) - Palm oil producer DekelOil Public Ltd on Monday said it will make three investments in its Ayenouan palm oil project in the Ivory Coast in order to improve the profitability of the site.
DekelOil said it has acquired an empty fruit press in order to extract any additional palm oil from empty fruit bunches. It expects this to increase the total crude palm oil extraction rate at the site by 0.5 percentage point, which will improve margins going forward.
This will involve a EUR485,000 investment, and DekelOil expects payback from the investment in under a year.
The company also will spend EUR390,000 on an additional 3,000 tonne tank to increase overall crude palm oil storage capacity at Ayenouan to 8,000 tonnes. This, DekelOil said, will give its flexibility to choose when to sell its palm oil, allowing it to ensure it gets the best possible price.
DekelOil will invest a total of EUR1.3 million in an additional back oil boiler for the extraction mill at Ayenouan in order to minimise downtime in the event of a breakdown.
"These capital investments, which have been in our sights since the Mill became operational, are expected to improve operating margins, de-risk operations and provide more flexibility with sales pricing going forward," said DekelOil Executive Director Lincoln Moore.
DekelOil shares were up 3.2% to 12.00 pence on Monday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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