Brahim Holdings Bhd, an in-flight catering services provider, expect its sugar refinery plant in Sarawak to be operational by 2014 and generate about RM250 million in revenue, annually.

Executive chairperson Ibrahim Ahmad said the group had allocated RM130 million to invest in the sugar manufacturing plant and machinery.

“In line with our food portfolio, we have ventured into the sugar refinery sector and we are building our plant on a 12 hectare piece of land in Demak Laut, Sarawak, to cater for the East Malaysian market.

“We expect the plant to begin commercial operations by 2014 with an initial  production of about 100,000 tonnes per annum and foresee the project to generate a revenue of about RM250 million,” he told reporters after the group’s annual general meeting.

Ibrahim also said there was good prospects in the sugar refinery sector especially in the East Malaysia as there were no sugar producers there.

“Upon the completion of our Sarawak plant, we will be the first sugar producer in East Malaysia and our study shows that the demand capacity for sugar there stood at 330,000 tonnes and 1.6 million tonnes for nationwide demand,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the airport-centric business, Ibrahim said the group achieved  a strong financial performance driven by its in-flight catering division.

“We expect the opening of the KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2) to see a steady growth in air passengers which will benefit our flight catering and restaurant operations at the airports,” he said.

He said the group had the largest halal flight kitchen in the world servicing most of the major airlines coming through Malaysia.

“Long-term, there is tremendous potential for us to leverage on our expertise in the provision of halal food services to expand into regional and global markets,” he said.

- Bernama