Oil Palm
Sabah Softwoods Berhad first Oil Palm Plantation estate was developed in 1981 to 1988. Planting with an area of only about 500 hectares. In 1995, 15,000 hectares was initiated with various year of planting until year 2001. To date, Sabah Softwoods Berhad Oil Palm Plantation has nine (9) estates which has been cultivated over 36,628 hectares from its land bank of 60,618 hectares.
In order to have a composition of sustainable age profile for optimum FFB production, a Long Range Replanting Program (LRRP) established by taking 5% yearly from the total existing area in order to have a composition of sustainable age profile for optimal FFB production. Since it began in 2018, 11,977 hectares have been replanted as of December 2025.
With this replanting process in the oil palm sector, Sabah Softwoods Berhad Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) annual output is expected to exceed 450,000 MT by year 2030 which surpasses the raw material requirement to feed two CPO Mills with a capacity of 60 MT per hour for Dumpas Palm Oil Mill and 90 MT for Kapilit Palm Oil Mill.
For FFB process, Sabah Softwoods Bhd have two mills namely Dumpas Palm Oil Mill (DPOM) and Kapilit Palm Oil Mill (KPOM). The DPOM capacity is 60 Mt per hour while KPOM is a 90Mt per hour mills.
Plantation
The location of Mill and Estates are located within the District of Tawau:
| No. | Operating Units | Category | Officer In-Charge |
Distance From Tawau Town (KM) | Latitute | Longtitude | MSPO Certified |
| 1. | Cenderamata | Oil Palm Estate | Harezam Ahmad | 53 | 4° 30’ 43.1" | 117° 43’ 14.5" | Yes |
| 2. | Dumpas | Oil Palm Estate | Donald Lutam | 53 | 4° 30’ 43.1" | 117° 43’ 14.5" | Yes |
| 3. | Sungai Indit | Oil Palm Estate | Sharazat Jumain | 70 | 4° 39’ 38.3" | 117° 43’ 14.5" | Yes |
| 4. | Banita | Oil Palm Estate | Baharuddin Pawe | 65 | 4° 33’ 40.8" | 117° 40’ 51.2" | - |
| 5. | Kapilit | Oil Palm Estate | Abd Rashid Hussein | 79 | 4° 31’ 37.4" | 117° 30’ 33.6" | Yes |
| 6. | Sungai Tiagau |
Oil Palm Estate | Jakson Matanggal | 82 | 4° 31’ 55.8" | 117° 29’ 31.5" | Yes |
| 7. | Mawang | Oil Palm Estate | Yusuf Keruak | 83 | 4° 33’ 23.2" | 117° 28’ 58.9" | Yes |
| 8. | Kumansi | Oil Palm Estate | Bridger K. Thomas | 91 | 4° 28’ 42.4" | 117° 26’ 58.6" | Yes |
| 9. | Bukit Tukok | Oil Palm Estate | Amran Yusof | 87 | 4° 27’ 37.9" | 117° 29’ 40.3" | Yes |
| 10. | Kapilit Palm Oil Mill | Palm Oil Mill | Jeffry Ahmad | 80 | 4° 30’ 14.1" | 117° 31’ 26.9" | Yes |
In 2025, Oil Palm Plantation produces 374,334 tons of FFB.
| No. | Oil Palm Estates | Total Area (Ha) | Planted Area (Ha) | Percentage of Planted Area (%) | Campsite Survey Area (Ha) | FFB Production (Tonnes) |
| A. Kalum Region | ||||||
| 1. | Cenderamata Estate | 3,683 | 2,953 | 80 | 189 | 37,828 |
| 2. | Dumpas Estate | 4,064 | 3,382 | 83 | 308 | 33,260 |
| 3. | Sungai Indit Estate | 4,062 | 3,121 | 77 | 1,867 | 53,811 |
| 4. | Banita Estate | 2,921 | 2,370 | 81 | 235 | 40,192 |
| B. Kalabakan Region | ||||||
| 5. | Kapilit Estate | 3,381 | 2,851 | 84 | 412 | 40,021 |
| 6. | Sungai Tiagau Estate | 3,748 | 2,972 | 79 | 105 | 42,329 |
| 7. | Mawang Estate | 3,360 | 2,724 | 81 | 226 | 18,201 |
| 8. | Kumansi Estate | 3,858 | 3,141 | 81 | 150 | 59,000 |
| 9. | Bukit Tukok Estate | 3,687 | 2,948 | 80 | 244 | 49,693 |
| 10. | Kapilit Palm Oil Mill | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 32,764 | 24,462 | 81 | 3,736 | 374,334 | |
Kapilit Palm Oil Mill
Kapilit Palm Oil Mill (KPOM) is a key processing facility operated by Sabah Softwoods Berhad as part of its integrated oil palm opeartions. Commissioned in 2010 with a design throughput of 45 MT/HR - which later upgraded to 90 MT/hr, the mill processes fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) harvested from surrounding estates.
As part of its commitment to sustainable operations, Sabah Softwoods Berhad developed the Kapilit Biogas Plant, which converts methane gas from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) into renewable electricity. Commissioned in 2014 with an installed capacity of 3 MW, the facility captures methane emissions and transforms palm oil waste into a valuable energy resource while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Electricity generated from the biogas plant powers the Kapilit Palm Oil Mill and supplies continuous electricity to five etstates within Kalabakan region, benefiting more than 1,500 workers and residents with reliable 24-hour power supply.
The project has also gained national and regional recognition. The Kapilit Biogas Plant initially received recognition at the National Energy Awards (NEA) 2023 as a runner-up. The efforts continue at the NEA 2025 where it bags 1st Place under renewable energy segment which gives merit to compete at the ASEAN stage. At the ASEAN Energy Awards (AEA) 2025, the Kapilit Biogas Plant achieved 2nd Runner-Up in the Off-Grid Power, highlighting its role as an innovative renewable energy initiative within the ASEAN palm oil industry.
Dumpas Palm Oil Mill
Dumpas Palm Oil Mill (DPOM) is a joint venture project between Sabah Softwoods Berhad and Rentak Hasil Sdn. Bhd. DPOM currently operates a 60 Metric Ton (MT) Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) per hour. Dumpas mill is located in the bigger parcel of land of SSB known as Kalum Division. Based on the current capacity, the mill is able to process 300,000 of FFB and annual output of 60,000 MT of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and 13,500 of Palm Kernal (PK).
Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)
Sabah Softwoods Berhad (SSB) has registered with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) to be member of MSPO on 24th April 2015. The company obtained MSPO Certification for Group certification and Mill on 1st April 2016. (Click here to view: SSB MSPO Certificate)
The Group certification includes the eight (8) Estates and one (1) Mill namely, a. Sg.Indit, Dumpas, Cenderamata, Kapilit, Mawang, Bukit Batu, Bukit Tukok, Kumansi and Kapilit Palm Oil Mill (KPOM). SSB's Senior Manager Environment & Conservation Ram Nathan (ram@softwoods.com.my), is appointed as the management representative for MSPO certification.
TUV NORD (Malaysia) company as the Certification Body (CB). CB has applied for accreditation for MSPO scheme under DSM (Department of Standard Malaysia) in order to issue accredited certificate. Thus, re-certification for Group certification foe Estates and Mill is on 13-17 March 2017 during audit in order to issue an accredited MSPO certificate which is the requirements for oil palm industry under the jurisdiction of Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council (MPOCC) is now the scheme owner.
The company has developed several policy statements with commitment for sustainability.
All the policies of the company is clearly displayed on notice boards and being briefed to staff, workers and contractors.
Some of the Management documents placed at the estates and mill offices for publicly available upon request.
The policies and management documents mentioned are as follows:
Policies
| No. | Policy(s) |
| 1. | MSPO |
| 2. | Environmental Statement |
| 3. | Social |
| 4. | Gender |
| 5. | Child Protection |
| 6. | Health, Safety and Environment |
| 7. | Sexual Harassment |
| 8. | Prevention on Workplace Violence |
| 9. | Sexual Harassment & Gender Discrimination | 10. | Zero Burning |
| 11. | Pemuliharaan Hidupan Liar |
| 12. | Equal Employment |
| 13. | Freedom of Association Statement |
| 14. | Minimum Age |
| 15. | Human Right |
Management Document(s)
| No. | Management Document(s) |
| a. | Standard Operating Procedure (Estate and Mill) |
| b. | Waste Management |
| c. | Land Title |
| d. | Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) |
| e. | High Conservation Value (HCV) |
| f. | Grievances and Complaints Procedure |
| g. | Safety and Health Plans |
| h. | Annual Reports |
| i. | Government Laws and Regulations |
| j. | Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) |
All levels of employees have continuously committed to implement MSPO. The company has standard operating procedures for best practices to ensure sustainable production of safe and quality palm oil products.