Cargill move shows Philippines is a key Asian growth market

By Jane Byrne

- Last updated on GMT

Cargill move shows Philippines is a key Asian growth market
Work has got underway on a Cargill premix plant in the Philippines.

The US agribusiness player said construction of the new facility got underway this week; the plant is expected to be on stream in the third quarter of next year.

Located in Bulacan, Cargill said the facility will have capacity of 20,000 metric tons of premix products per year.

When completed, it will bring to five the number of animal nutrition production facilities the US company has in the Philippines. However, it will be the first plant in that country dedicated to manufacturing Cargill’s Provimi range of premix products.

Livestock husbandry in the Philippines is undergoing a transition, said Cargill, as farms consolidate and grow larger and, thus, require more sophisticated feed ingredients.

So the facility is targeting medium to large livestock farms that may be shifting from compound feeds to developing their own formulations and feed millers who may want a broader portfolio.

Cargill said the Philippines is a key growth market for its animal nutrition business in Asia. In that context, the group is also investing in a new poultry processing factory in Batangas through a joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), one of the largest buyers of chicken in the Philippines.

The plant, which is expected to be up and running in the last quarter of next year, will process 45 million chickens per year to meet increasing consumer demand.

Cargill said the processing facility will also create around 1,000 new full time jobs and develop new opportunities in the farming community in that region, as local poultry farmers are contracted to grow chicken to supply the requirements of the factory.

Fast growing market

Other feed manufacturers have been showing interest in the Philippines in recent months.

In May this year French animal nutrition group, Neovia (ex InVivo NSA), acquired a Philippines based pig, poultry and aqua feed manufacturer, Popular Feedmill Corporation (PFC).

Neovia has had a presence in that Asian country since 2014 in the form of a commercial subsidiary but it said the purchase of PFC allowed it to strengthen its standing in a fast growing market; it gained feed manufacturing facilities in Cebu and Bulacan near Manila.

The Filipino company produces around 150,000 tons of pig, poultry, aquaculture, and pet feed annually.

The Philippines has a population of over 100 million people, which is expected to grow by 57% by 2050, making it then the 10th most populated country in the world, noted Neovia then.

The biggest user of feed, in terms of livestock segments in that Asian country, are broilers, followed by layers and then swine, said the French company.

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