Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
POSCO International launches PT.PAR, strengthening integrated palm oil value chain
POSCO International CEO Lee Kye-in, third from left, Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Yoon Soon-gu, fourth from left, and Indonesian Palm Oil Association Chairman Eddy Martono, fifth from left, pose during the launch cermeony for POSCO International's Indonesian subsidiary, PT Prime Agri Resources, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday. Courtesy of POSCO International
By Lee Gyu-lee
POSCO International has completed the postmerger integration of Indonesian palm oil company Sampoerna Agro, which it acquired last year, and unveiled a new corporate identity for the business under its new name, PT Prime Agri Resources (PT.PAR).
The company held a launch ceremony for PT.PAR on Wednesday in Jakarta, Indonesia, formalizing the new brand and signaling a strategic milestone in its agribusiness expansion into a fully integrated palm oil value chain spanning seed development, plantation operations and refining.
POSCO International secured management control of Sampoerna Agro through an investment of approximately 1.3 trillion won ($854.9 million) carried out from 2025 through early 2026.
The acquisition added 128,000 hectares of plantation across Sumatra and Kalimantan, significantly expanding the company’s upstream production base. It also enabled the company to acquire Indonesia’s second-ranked palm seed business, along with its research and development capabilities.
The deal expands POSCO International’s palm oil operations beyond plantation management into seed development, strengthening its competitiveness across the sector.
With the integration now complete, POSCO International will position PT.PAR as the core production hub and a key center for seed development in its palm oil business.
“The launch of PT.PAR and its new corporate identity mark a key milestone in expanding our production base and strengthening our seed business capabilities,” a company official said.
“We will continue enhancing the competitiveness of our palm oil business and further expand our position as a global food and materials platform.”
The move reflects a strategic shift from a plantation-focused model to a more integrated agribusiness structure encompassing seed development, cultivation, crude palm oil production, refining and biofuel feedstock supply.
PT.PAR’s launch completes POSCO International’s three-pillar palm oil business structure in Indonesia, spanning Papua, Sumatra and Kalimantan, as well as a refining joint venture with GS Caltex in the city of Balikpapan, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons.
Through this vertically integrated value chain, POSCO International aims to strengthen its position as a global food and biomaterials platform.
The company’s total palm plantation footprint in Indonesia now stands at 154,000 hectares, roughly 2.5 times the size of Seoul.
With the expanded production capacity and newly acquired seed development capabilities, the company said it aims to more than double the operating profit from its palm business this year.
The newly unveiled PT.PAR corporate identity features a palm tree-inspired symbol and interconnected curves designed to represent the continuity of the palm oil value chain, from seed development and plantation management to palm oil production, while reflecting the company’s long-term sustainability vision.