KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 29): After making news over its plan to enter the rubber glove industry, Inix Technologies Holdings Bhd has now proposed to venture into the durian industry.  
 
In a bourse filing, the group said it had signed a strategic partnership and supply agreement with Dura Manufacturing Sdn Bhd (Duria).  

Under the agreement, Inix will be appointed to secure the supply chain for Duria for 5,000 tonnes of nitrogen frozen Musang King durian, 2,000 tonnes of Durian paste and 1,000 tonnes of Musang King pulp over the next five years.  
 
Inix and Duria are looking at setting up three new primary processing plants for the fruit products in Perak and two other locations to be determined later.  

“With the vision of the huge potential global market for the next 20 years, Duria developed an innovative refrigerated fresh durian pastry, the Musang King mooncake, to cope with the global demand.  

“The creative delicate snowy skin mooncake is stuffed with 100% fresh Musang King durian, while preserving the rich natural delicacy of the unique aroma of Musang King durian. 

“In 2019, the sales volume of Musang King lotus snowy mooncakes exceeded 300,000 boxes to China alone,” Inix said in its filing.   

Duria’s existing factory in Kamunting, Perak has 20 production lines that can produce 80 tonnes of fresh durian fruits per day. It also produces durian mooncakes, having business dealings in China as well.   

In a separate statement, Inix executive director Siva Kumar Kalugasalam said the group had decided to invest in the partnership over the demand surrounding durian. 

"In view of the huge potential market of overwhelming demand for durian, Inix decided to invest in this joint venture company to cope with the expanding market demand, aiming to create value for its shareholders,” he said.  
 
Duria CEO Wong Woei Ming said the current wholesale price of Musang King durian is RM60 a kg, while the 2020 annual average price was RM40.  

"Average price of durian paste is RM50/kg and Musang King pulp is RM100/kg. In 2018, China accounted for 65% of the total share in import value of our Musang King durian, with a total imported quantity of 431,940 tonnes of fresh durians during the year,” he observed.  

In a separate bourse filing, Inix announced it has posted a net profit of RM216,000 for the second quarter ended July 31,2020 (2QFY21), from a net loss of RM4 million in the corresponding quarter last year.  

Revenue for the quarter fell to RM629,000 from RM1.39 million in 2QFY20.  
 
For the first half of FY21, the group reported a narrower net loss of RM304,000, from RM752,000 in the corresponding period last year. Half-year revenue declined to RM1.26 million, from RM1.16 million. 

Shares in Inix finished 1.52% or half a sen higher at 33.5 sen today, valuing the group at RM122.75 million. The counter saw 24.38 million shares transacted.