November 10, 2014

Australian beef producer CPC on expansion binge in Asia

Australia's biggest privately owned beef producer is on the lookout for more joint-venture partners in China as it focuses on the Asian region as its major source of revenues.

Consolidated Pastoral Company Pty Ltd (CPC) already holds a 50% interest in a joint venture that owns and operates two cattle feedlots in Indonesia and a partnership in China.

Its chief executive officer, Troy Setter, said they planned to expand one of the Indonesian feedlots and were also looking for joint-venture partners in China.

He told an Australian news outfit that they were looking at opportunities for partnerships preferably in the meat business.

"There are a lot of companies out of China that are looking to do business with Australian firms," he said, quoted by The Australian. The quest for Chinese partners may be explained by the fact that currently more than half of China's beef import comes from Australia. Demand for beef in China has trebled in the past decade and Australia's beef exports to China is expected to be worth $130 billion by 2030.

"We plan to build off our Indonesia and Chinese businesses. The Asian business now represents 40 percent of revenues. I think we will see that at least half of our revenue will come from Indonesia and greater Asia in the next couple of years," he said.

Private equity group Terra Firma purchased CPC from the Packer family in 2009 and has expanded its cattle capacity to 360,000 head from 290,000, and increased its land portfolio to 19 stations.