January 18, 2010

 

Novus International unveils new plant in Singapore

Novus International, Inc. officially opened its new blending plant in Singapore on January 16, 2010 - a move to strengthen the company's portfolio in the livestock feed industry. 

 

The new feed specialties plant will serve as a distribution hub for Novus's Asia Pacific clients in industries including aquaculture, poultry, ruminant and pork.

 

Thad Simons, Novus President and CEO, says during his welcome speech that Novus has "been in Singapore for a very long time (since it started 19 years ago) and it's quite appropriate to see now that we have made a further investment and really expanding our presence in Singapore and in Southeast Asia." He shares that the company is working hard for its vision which is "helping to feed the world with wholesome and affordable food and improving the quality of life."

 

Giovanni Gasperoni, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales, states that "this plant, and the growth that we demonstrated around the globe, is really so close to our hearts and relevant to our future. We are in different parts of the world witnessing an evolution of animal agriculture in different phase and that Asia will be the driver machine for the next decade." Gasperoni notes that every Novus plant, like this one in Singapore "empowers employees to support local and regional customers in a way that brings indisputable value to businesses." He further underscores the importance to link with the customers for the long term.

 

Indeed with this recent location in Singapore, Novus can now offer better accessibility to the Asia Pacific region. Plant manager Leow Tong Hoe says that "in Singapore, we can export to any country because Singapore has a very good branding - we can export perhaps to Japan or Korea in the shortest time." 

 

However, even if the Asia Pacific is the main priority of the Singapore plant, it can still export products elsewhere in the world. Simons points out that "it responds to the needs of the region, yet we can have product from here going to anywhere in the world because it would be one of our important plants for our aqua line products."

 

As to the main goal of the plant for this year, Regional Director, Yiannis Christodoulou, says that "the goal we have for this facility this year is simple - that is (to bring) three technologies which we would like to be able to manufacture locally. We are starting with our enzyme technology or Cibenza DP100. Following that is our gut modifying technology or Activate DA. Third one is our organic trace mineral (Poultry TMO). These are the first three technologies we would like to start here."

 

Covering a surface area of 4,000 square meters, the plant is comprised of: a dedicated raw material warehouse, a two-level integrated manufacturing area and a one-stop distribution for APEC. The distribution warehouse started operations on August 1, 2009 while the manufacturing facility has been operational since January 1, 2010. The plant has a production capacity of 600 metric tonnes per shift per year.

 

The new plant will produce its first product with Poultry TMO, followed closely with Activate DA and Cibenza DP100. The raw material addition, liquid addition and blending processes are all PLC-controlled to ensure precise product formulation control. The site is fully compliant with Singapore's regulatory authority (Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore).