Thai agribusiness giant Charoen Pokphand Group (CPF) is looking to ramp up the businesses in the Philippines with plans to invest P7 billion (USD$171 million) over the coming three years. The investment will go into the areas of expanding the company's livestock and aquaculture business in the country. With the company viewing the Philippines as an important growth area for CPF’s business interests.
The company which currently runs livestock, poultry and feed milling businesses in the country will put the funds towards its broiler, layer and swine operations in Pampanga, along with boosting its shrimp hatcheries and fish culture operations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The company sees potential in the Philippine market given its growing domestic consumption of meat on the back of a rising population.
Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corp. (CPFP) who have recently seen heated protests by local producers at unfair tax breaks given to the company by the government and because of the fear of being squeezed out the market by a giant and experienced company like CPF, hope that their expansion plans in the Philippines go smoothly.
Vice chair of CPFP, Pinij Kungvankij told reporters "We have been interested in the Philippines for quite sometime. Yes, it took us several years to finally invest because we want to do everything slowly but surely," he continued saying, "We will be ahead when others decide to come to the Philippines." referring to the upcoming planned economic integration by ASEAN by 2015.
CFPF currently operate an old feed mill it acquired in Brgy. Panginay, Guiguinto, Bulacan. The production at the mill is only around 18-24,000 metric tons of feeds per annum, which consists of starter/grower/and finisher feeds for pigs and poultry.
The company has a new 60,000 metric tonnes per annum feed mill scheduled to open this month. Located in Samal, Bataan, the feed mill will produce fish and shrimp feeds for local fishpond operators and owners.
Kungvankij said "About 30 percent of poultry and hog feed output goes directly to our home grown animals for their consumption, while the other 70 percent is sold in the local market." CPF Thailand has been supplying 2,000 metric tons of aqua feeds to distributors in Cebu.
Arnnop Jeanprasert, senior vice president for livestock feed business of CPF Philippines says that even with the new investments the company's target of 5% of the market in five years, will not kill local livestock raisers, and that their was plenty of space for local producers.
Since 2005, CPF Thailand has been supplying 2,000 metric tons of aqua feeds to distributors in Cebu. The new feed mill is expected to cut down on the import of both finished feeds and raw materials, which will now be sourced from the Philippines.
CPFPC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thailand’s CP Foods PCL which already has existing business operations in the Philippines, including a swine project in Pampanga, which involves breeding of great grandparent stocks to parent or breeding stocks, and a broiler project in Bulacan.
