* Sime has 40,000 hectares of vacant land in Indonesia -CEO
* Company added three new estates to Indonesia holdings
* FFB output to be within 10 mln tonnes in fiscal 2011
* Sime to develop Liberian estates over 15 years
By Niki Koswanage and Julie Goh
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Sime Darby , the world's biggest listed palm oil firm, is on the lookout for more land, its chief executive said on Tuesday, in a move sure to fuel the global grab for arable land as food prices remain high.
During the 2007-2008 food price surge, resource companies from Saudi Arabia to South Korea scoured the world for agricultural land to increase supplies and profit from growing food demand.
Much of the focus for oil palm expansion will remain on Indonesia, the world's No.1 producer, although plans for a ban on forest clearing and legal hurdles over land acquisitions have prompted planters to also turn to Africa.
"Sime Darby is always open to any propositions to expand its oil palm investment in Indonesia, both via greenfield and brownfield," Mohd Bakke Salleh, Sime's president and group chief executive officer, told Reuters in an e-mail interview.
Sime, valued at $18 billion by market capitalisation, has the largest landholdings among palm oil firms. It has added three new estates to its Indonesian portfolio in the current fiscal year, Bakke said.
The company still has 40,000 hectares of vacant land in Indonesia after planting 208,049 hectares, which represents almost 40 percent of its total planted Southeast Asian holdings.
CROWN JEWEL
The company, which is due to announce its second quarter results on Thursday, is expected to report a net profit of 3.2 billion ringgit ($1.0 billion) for the 2011 fiscal year, according to 26 analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Its plantation arm contributed about a third of the group's revenue in fiscal 2010. Most analysts regard plantations as the crown jewel in Sime's business, which spans motoring, property, energy and utilities.
Officials have taken steps to preserve cash flow and allow for more board oversight after mismanagement at its energy division led to two quarters of losses in fiscal 2010.
Bakke, who replaced the former chief executive and other officials involved in the loss-making energy projects, said prolonged unfavourable weather conditions would affect supply and prices would remain attractive for planters.
Palm oil hit a three-year high in early February after floods hit key growing regions in Malaysia, the world's No.2 producer, and triggered fears that importers would rush to stockpile.
"(But) the normal upward crop cycle in the second half of 2011 and new maturity areas in Indonesia ... may lead to price stability or adjustment from the present level," Bakke said ahead of the Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference in March.
Sime expects its palm fresh fruit bunch production to be within 10 million tonnes for the 2011 fiscal year, up 1.6 percent from a year ago.
Sime shares have gained about 2.4 percent since the start of the year, outperforming rival Singapore's Wilmar International's eight percent fall and the near two percent loss in Malaysia's benchmark stock index .
Wilmar, which earns more than half of its revenue from China, reported a 28 percent decline in quarterly earnings on Wednesday, thanks to losses from its oilseeds and grains units, missing forecasts and knocking its shares down 5 percent.
WEST AFRICA
Planters are looking to Africa to develop their estates as Indonesia seeks to impose a moratorium on forest clearing, which might slow the sector's aggressive expansion that peaked in the 2007-2008 commodity boom.
Sime Darby is tapping into a concession pact in Liberia to expand, while other firms such as Wilmar, Golden Agri-Resources and Olam have said they want to grow their oil palm estates in Africa.
Bakke said Sime's plan to develop 220,000 hectares of land in Liberia would take about 15 years, with first maturity expected after the fourth year of planting.
Sime began planting in Liberia this year. The Western African land makes up about 34 percent of Sime's total landbank now.
"We expect the Liberian operation to significantly contribute to Sime Darby's earnings once the entire development is in full maturity," Bakke said. ($1=3.035 Malaysian Ringgit) (Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage and Julie Goh)