Indonesian Palm Oil News (IPO News) – The embryo of Musim Mas Group was founded in Medan in 1937. At that time, the name of the company which became the embryo of Musim Mas Group was Lee Bun Liau. His business was still very simple, only producing soap. In 1972, Anwar Karim, the successor of the business, who was also the founder of Musim Mas Group, began using the name of Musim Mas. Previously it used the name PT. Lambang Utama. Anwar Karim could be said to be the first person to establish a palm oil refining plant in Indonesia. Previously, Anwar Karim had established the second largest palm oil refinery plant in the world in Singapore. His palm oil refining plant is now under the management of the Sumatra Oil Company which is managed by his brother.

After the founder of Musim Mas Group, Anwar Karim, died in 1997, Musim Mas Group is now controlled by Anwar Karim’s four children,  but three children who actively manage it are Bachtiar Karim, Bahari Karim and Burhan Karim. Another child actively manages his own business. As the eldest son, Bachtiar Karim holds the baton of the Musim Mas Group.

In 1988, Musim Mas Group began to enter the palm oil plantation business. Musim Mas Group decided to work on the upstream sector (plantation) because it had experienced difficulties in obtaining crude palm oil (CPO). So this company group entered palm oil plantations to support its downstream industries which had previously been developed. Musim Mas Group, apart from developing its own oil palm plantations, also develops community plantations (Core Public Plantation/PIR scheme) covering an area of 5,000 hectares out of the total oil palm plantations owned by Musim Mas Group covering an area of 130 thousand hectares. Along with expanding its palm oil plantations, Musim Mas Group is also developing its refinery plants.

Musim Mas Group (MMG) is one of few companies in the world dealing with oleochemical business and processed products from palm oil such as fatty acids and glycerine. Its products are very much required by modern industries. Fatty acid, for example, is a chemical product which is needed by the soap, toiletries and perfumery industries. Musim Mas Group’s fatty acid production is the largest in Indonesia.

MMG currently has 8 palm oil refineries spreading across various cities in Indonesia. Apart from olechemicals and fatty acids, MMG is also actively developing its business in the downstream palm oil industry. For example, one of MMG’s subsidiaries which is well known in the domestic market is PT Bina Karya Prima which is also a national player in the instant cooking oil market under Tropical brand and bath soap under Shinzui brand. Besides, there is also PT Megasurya Mas which produces soaps under Harmony, Medicare, Liesel and Eve brands.

In 2021, according to IPO NEWS’ estimation that the value of Bachtiar Karim’s wealth increased again by around 15% to US$ 3.6 billion or around Rp. 52.8 trillion compared to that in 2020. In 2022 Bachtiar Karim ranked 11th position of the richest person in Indonesia with wealth of US$ 4 billion or Rp. 59.79 billion. In 2024 his wealth is predicted to be US$ 4.4 billion.

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