March 6, 2007

Thailand's CPF seed business to spread across Asia  

Thailand agri-giant Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) is to expand its seed business into major consuming countries, particularly India and China, as part of its plan to gain revenue overseas.

The group's expansion has been operated through the CP Crop Integration Business Group, which has taken responsibility for both marketing strategy and research and development in foreign countries.

As part of CP's strategy of setting up more offshore businesses with trading partners the seed business has also expanded in many countries, including Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Nepal, Turkey and Ukraine. The company already established a research-and-development (R&D) centre for seed in China, Vietnam, India and Myanmar several years ago.

CP plans to invest 100 million baht (2.3 million euro) this year to expand its seed business in China, particularly in the corn-belt area covering Hunan, Hubei and nearby provinces. Of the total investment, half will be spent on research and development for both maize and animal feed products.

The group has established four R&D centres in China, including Sichuan and Guangxi. In addition, there are three manufacturing plants in targeted areas.

CP is establishing Thai-owned companies in terms of investment and technology in their targeted countries instead of buying from other companies in order to facilitate its offshore business.

The Crop Integrated Business Group's total sales are projected to grow by 10 percent to 4.4 billion baht (101 million euro) this year. This amount comes from seed and fertiliser products, from machinery, from rubber and from horticultural crops. However, most of the group's revenue still comes from domestic sales in Thailand, which account for 75 percent of total sales.