Wilmar revives copra mill project in Leyte

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine subsidiary of Asia’s leading agri-business group, Wilmar International Limited, is reviving a multi-million peso copra milling project in Tolosa, Leyte, that it earlier scrapped due to unfavorable business climate in that southern province.

The decision stemmed from the group’s desire for an active role in the recovery and rehabilitation effort for residents of areas devastated by super-typhoon “Yolanda” that hit Eastern Visayas  in November last year, according to Antonio Fargas, managing director of  Wilmar Edible Oils Philippines, Inc. (Wilmar-Phils.).

“We had entirely given up on this project ,” the Wilmar executive said, adding, “but with the onslaught suffered by the communities of Yolanda-affected areas, like Leyte, we reconsidered and decided to pursue it.

When it becomes operational, the P500-million copra mill will have a daily crushing capacity of  500 tons copra input per day, providing a key outlet for the products of coconut farmers in the area, and generating direct employment opportunities and income.

Wilmar now operates two coconut oil mill/crushing and refinery plants in Bo. Nabilid, Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte (called Roxas Plant) and in Bo. San Luis, Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental (called Gingoog Plant) with a combined daily capacity of 1,100 tons copra input/day.

This Leyte venture represents Wilmar’s latest effort to ramp up its inter-related activities under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, and in pursuit of its advocacy of sharing its business growth with its stakeholders, particularly its employees and coconut farmers in its areas of operation.

Wilmar started operating last February community healthcare clinics at its two factory sites in Mindanao, providing free medical assistance to its employees, coconut farmers and surrounding residents in the two areas. The free clinics are each staffed by a physician, midwife and a nurse.

It has launched, too, a feeding program benefitting some 920 students of the Roxas Central School, which is nearby to its Roxas Plant, and 300 students of the Doña Josefa Elementary School in Gingoog City, and provided scholarship to 20 college freshmen for the current school year.

A tree planting program it started in 2008 to help preserve the ecological balance and well-being of the environment, and sustain the supply of firewood (the fuel alternative it uses for the biomass boilers in its two plants) has yielded some 1,315,145 (as of Sept. 2014) stands of mahogany trees planted by its volunteer employees and hired hands.

It targets the planting of 240,000 more trees this year in partnership with the owners of private lands adjacent to the factory sites and nearby municipalities.

It also began operating last January nurseries for coconut seedlings at its Roxas and Gingoog sites for the initial production of at least 10,000 seedlings, which will be given free to legitimate coconut farmers.

Wilmar intends to replicate this program in Tolosa to help replant new trees in coconut areas damaged by Typhoon Yolanda.

The company manufactures and exports high grade quality crude and refined coconut oil products such as crude coconut oil (CNO) refined bleached oil (Cochin Oil/RBO; Refined, Bleached and Deodorized oil (RBDO/EO); Coconut Acidulated Oil; Copra Expeller Meal and Copra Extraction Pellet, as well as various vegetable oils and grains.