The feed mill was originally established in 1996 through a joint venture between Sri Thai Foods and Beverages Co. Ltd. and Thai-Denmark Swine Breeding Co. Ltd.
Cargill said the facility has ceased production, and the plan is to get it on stream again in May 2018.
Once operational, Cargill said the plant will have 50 employees and will produce 72,000 MT of feed per year for the company’s swine and poultry customers in the Eastern and Northeastern areas of Thailand.
The facility has a large land footprint, at around 10 hectares (24 acres), and the US agribusiness group said that factor could enable expansion of the facility at a later date.
Integrated poultry business
Cargill has been operating in Thailand since 1968. It operates a fully integrated poultry supply chain in the country that includes breeder facilities, hatcheries, feed mills, pullet and grow out farms, processing plants and a product development facility.
Last November, it announced it was investing $50m to expand its poultry processing operations at its facility in the Nakhon Ratchasima province in the country. It also recently completed a $110m expansion of its other poultry processing facility in Thailand, located in Korat.
Cargill also sees potential for aquaculture growth in Thailand. In 2013, the company acquired a shrimp feed mill producing 60,000 metric tons of shrimp feed per year - the Siamakme manufacturing facility located in Petchaburi.
Thailand has a strong position in the global feed industry, according to the annual Alltech survey The data collated by Alltech for 2016 showed Thailand has 128 feed mills in total, and produces 18.6 million metric tons (MT) of feed per annum.
Pig feed dominates in that market, accounting for 6.4m MT - Thailand is in the top ten pig producing countries globally. Next up is broiler feed, at 6.1m MT, followed by feed for layers, with 3.2m MT of feed for that species produced in the South East Asian country in 2016, according to the Alltech survey.