October 1, 2007

Malaysia's Lay Hong mulls poultry farms abroad to tap Japanese market 

Malaysia's Lay Hong Bhd, a leading egg producer in the country, is considering setting up poultry farms in Brunei and Vietnam to better tap into opportunities in the international markets.

The company current exports its products to Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Dubai.

Its chairman and group managing director Yap Hoong Chai said the company is eyeing the Japanese market due to the huge demand and the higher incomes in the country.

Besides producing poultry feed and engaging in the breeding and hatching of chicks, the company is also involved in processing of chicken manure into organic fertiliser, and is planning to develop pre-cooked products such as frozen boned fried chicken.

Yap said the company was looking into building new closed farms.

Lay Hong produces 1.5 million table eggs daily while the country's total consumption stands at 17 million daily.

Malaysia sets a ceiling price for poultry and many producers have recently complained that with higher feed prices, the cost of production has come close to or exceeded the ceiling price.