To The Moon

$Wilmar Intl(F34.SI)$  is one of the world’s largest agribusiness groups and a prime example of how Singapore-based companies can exert influence far beyond the nation’s small physical footprint. Founded in 1991 by Kuok Khoon Hong and Martua Sitorus, Wilmar started as a modest palm oil trading and refining operation but has since expanded into a fully integrated global agricultural and food ingredients powerhouse. Today, its operations span the entire value chain, from plantations, oilseed crushing, edible oil refining, sugar milling, and specialty fats production to manufacturing consumer food products and operating an extensive distribution network. With over 500 manufacturing plants and a footprint in more than 50 countries, Wilmar processes and markets products that reach billions of consumers every day. This ability to influence global food supply chains from a Singapore headquarters reflects the country’s strategic role as a hub for commodity trading, logistics, and corporate governance in industries far larger than its domestic market.

Wilmar’s rise is also a story of Singapore’s adaptability and pragmatism in connecting resource-rich regions with global consumer markets. With major production assets in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, India, and Africa, and trading offices in key commercial hubs, Wilmar demonstrates how a Singaporean company can bridge agricultural supply from producing nations to demand centres worldwide. Its expansion into consumer brands such as Fortune cooking oil in India and China’s Arawana reflects a move up the value chain, mirroring Singapore’s own economic strategy of climbing from raw material trading to brand creation and value-added services. The company’s investments in sustainable agriculture, including certified palm oil, reduced deforestation practices, and supply chain transparency, also parallel Singapore’s emphasis on balancing economic growth with environmental stewardship. While sustainability in agribusiness remains a complex challenge, Wilmar’s role in setting industry standards gives Singapore a voice in shaping global agricultural ethics.

Wilmar International represents Singapore’s outward-looking, trade-driven DNA in a sector that is critical to human survival, food. It embodies the nation’s ability to excel in industries where scale, networks, and trust are key competitive advantages, even when the home market offers none of the raw resources involved. Just as Singapore transformed from an entrepôt port into a global trade and finance hub, Wilmar transformed from a niche palm oil refiner into a vertically integrated multinational commanding significant market share in edible oils, grains, and sugar. Its success underscores the fact that Singapore’s influence in the global economy extends far beyond its borders, into supply chains that feed the world, into boardrooms where sustainability and efficiency are debated, and into everyday kitchens where products born of its networks are used. In Wilmar, one sees Singapore’s hallmark traits, strategic positioning, operational excellence, and the ambition to compete and lead on the world stage.