First American Scientific Corp. (fka FASC)

[ptrey]

This is interesting. Worth watching for synergy:

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/5/27/business/8076952&sec=business

Thursday May 27, 2004

CB Industrial to lead in palm oil services
By KELVIN TAN

SECOND board-listed CB Industrial Products Bhd (CBIP) is well on its way to becoming a leading provider of palm oil milling equipment and engineering services at the international level.

The company now has an outstanding order book of RM200mil that will ensure the sustainability of its earnings for the next two years. More importantly, large portion of these jobs are from overseas.

Chairman and managing director Lim Chai Beng said that for 2003, revenue contribution from overseas jobs were about 60% of total revenue and this was expected to increase to 70% this year.

“We are currently involved in a project for Indonesia's PT MultigambutIndustri estimated at RM100mil to construct an access road as well as design, build and commission three palm oil mills,” he told a press conference after CBIP's AGM in Subang Jaya yesterday.

Lim Chai Beng
He said the company was now looking to secure a project potentially worth RM15mil to RM30mil in Papua New Guinea (PNG), having completed a RM32mil project in that country in the last quarter of 2003.

“Malaysia, Indonesia and PNG are currently the markets in which that we are strong but we are also making inroads into Thailand and the Philippines as well as other markets in Africa and Central America.

“CBIP is a one-stop centre that is able to meet 90% of the needs of engineering, equipment and services of palm oil milling industry locally and abroad. As such, we have had a lot of interest from potential customers all over the world,” he added.

According to Lim, CBIP’s expertise lies in building modular palm oil mills that are scalable with processing capacities ranging from five tonnes per hour to 45 tonnes per hour.

The modular palm oil mills, Modipalm, can be fully operational in as short as four months and at lower capital investment costs compared to conventional mills.

“Modipalm is easy to operate and the operating and maintenance costs are lower than those of conventional mills,” Lim said, adding that the flexible processing capacity meant that even small producers could benefit from Modipalm.

On CBIP’s prospects, Lim said the company expected the palm oil industry to enjoy double-digit growth in the next three to five years.