A focus on innovation and adaptability has enabled Oiltek, a vegetable and edible oil process engineering company, to grow steadily, even amid global crises. Its CEO Henry Yong explains.

When Henry Yong joined Malaysia-based Oiltek in 2008 as its managing director, his priority was to hone its innovation. At the time, it was a standard design and engineering specialist in vegetable and edible oil refineries, albeit a successful one with nearly 30 years of experience, including building one of the world’s largest integrated physical refineries and specialty fats complexes.

“I believed that if we wanted to keep growing in the long term, we couldn’t be continuously doing the same thing as everyone else in the industry. That’s why we started to place a lot of emphasis on innovation, refining processes and developing new products,” says Henry, who is the firm’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. 

Since he came on board, Oiltek has designed, constructed and commissioned refining plants that produce edible oil of the lightest colour, a quality desired by some consumers. It also devised a process that prevents nutrients from being destroyed or stripped out during palm oil refining, leading to cooking oil that has higher nutritional value. 

Moreover, it has tackled waste, including by constructing a flagship enzymatic plant that turns traditional palm oil refining by-products, such as high FFA CPO, palm fatty acid distillate, palm acid oil and sludge palm oil, into biodiesel. In 2023, it introduced a new value-added process to produce premium animal feed products from low-value co-products in refineries. 

“We have diversified into refinery processes and engineering solutions for a wide variety of edible oils, including palm, sunflower and soybean oil, non-edible oils, renewable energy, such as biogas, biodiesel and feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel, and animal feed. Our firm combines agriculture and technology which represents resilience and high growth, and this helps to differentiate us,” Henry says. 

By providing customers with more value, Oiltek has expanded into a multinational company with business in 35 countries across five continents. In the financial year ended 31 December 2023, it secured contracts worth about RM322.1 million in total, a 64.3 per cent increase from the previous year. In June 2024, its order book reached RM400.5 million in value, the highest in its history. 

A winning strategy in waste-to-energy

With the future in mind, Oiltek is ramping up its capabilities in waste-to-energy products too. Henry shares: “With rising concern about climate change, we are going to see rapid growth in industries involving renewable and cleaner sources of energy. By using waste instead of plant and animal oils to make biofuels, we can create greener energy without worsening the global food crisis.”

He points out that the firm has been in the waste-to-energy field for more than a decade. In 2010, it embarked on biogas recovery, converting palm oil mill effluent (POME) – wastewater from palm oil extraction and purification – into biogas and is further converted into respective energy sources including steam and electricity. It has subsequently tapped on other sources of waste, including by-products in refineries. 

It is also well-positioned to capitalise on the surging demand for sustainable jet fuel driven by the aviation industry’s goal of attaining net zero emissions by 2050. In Malaysia, where the company’s headquarters is located, the government has rolled out a blending mandate requiring such fuel to be blended with conventional jet fuel, beginning at 1 per cent in 2023 and with a target of 47 per cent by 2050. 

With Oiltek’s expertise in treating and cleaning POME and used cooking oil so that these are suitable as feedstock in producing hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) – which is used as aviation fuel – it can become a major player in this area. It has already delivered a pioneering HVO feedstock treatment plant in Malaysia. 

“As we move forward, we will be focusing significantly on renewable energy, so as not to miss out on trends and opportunities, including in sustainable aviation fuel. Furthermore, we are also looking to bring in more recurring income, through the selling of feedstocks, which will boost our bottom line and strengthen our resilience,” Henry says. 

He adds that he is passionate about contributing to improvements in the vegetable and edible oils industry, especially in sustainability. “It’s not just about our corporate social responsibility. Promoting the development and use of biofuels is not only good for the environment but also benefits us commercially.” In support of global sustainability efforts, Oiltek participated as a member of RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) since 2021.

Cultivating an open, collaborative culture

As the firm continues to innovate and grow, its dedicated workforce will be key to its progress, Henry highlights. “We’ve been able to recruit and retain talented people as we offer attractive pay packages and cover all sorts of processes in the industry – upstream, midstream and downstream; high, medium and niche ends – so we’re like a one-stop centre for learning.”

As the head of the company, he has also nurtured an open culture that encourages others to give feedback and share ideas. “When I have a decision to make, I discuss it with the management team first. Even if you don’t agree with some of what you hear, it’s important to listen to other people’s opinions and points of view.”

“This is so that you don’t end up having any blind spots. Whatever decision you make in the end, it will also be considered and readily justifiable to the rest of your team and staff. This is why I think that communication, and being accessible and approachable, is a hallmark of an effective leader.”

He notes that Oiltek’s collaborative and adaptive culture is one reason it pulled through the Covid-19 crisis relatively unscathed. “We ironed out a transition strategy in three to four days and implemented a work from home programme quickly. With our new protocols and online meetings, we were able to carry on work, including overseas, and even sign new business.”

The firm’s strong fundamentals will undergird it in the long run too, he emphasises. “The firm has an asset-light business, zero debt and healthy cash and bank balances. We also have a capable management team that has demonstrated its ability to seal deals and sales even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.”

“Our business spans different industries and geographies, so we don’t have any concentration risks. In fact, in the last 16 years since I became part of the firm, we have maintained a similar growth rate and achieved favourable dividend yields. We may still be a smaller firm compared to some of the giants in our industry, but our potential can take us very far.”

About Oiltek International Limited 

Oiltek International Limited (“Oiltek” and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), an established integrated process technology and renewable energy solutions provider, specialises in the provision of reliable, innovative, diversified, and comprehensive range of refinery processes and engineering solutions for use across all different sectors of the vegetable oils industry value chain globally. The history of the Group can be traced back to its principal operating subsidiary, Oiltek Sdn. Bhd., which was incorporated in Malaysia on 1 December 1980.

With over 43 years of track record, Oiltek has successfully designed, built and commercialized plants in more than 33 countries across 5 continents. The Group operates three key businesses – Edible & Non-Edible Oil Refinery, Renewable Energy, and Product Sales and Trading. 

The company’s website is https://oiltek.listedcompany.com/

About kopi-C: the Company brew

kopi-C is a regular column by SGX Research in collaboration with Beansprout (https://growbeansprout.com), a MAS-licensed investment advisory platform, that features C-level executives of leading companies listed on SGX. These interviews are profiles of senior management aimed at helping investors better understand the individuals who run these corporations.

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