MANILA, Philippines – Hybrid rice and seeds producer SL Agritech Corp. is set to spend P200 million next year to increase its production locally and expand its footprint in new markets abroad.
In an interview, SL Agritech senior vice president Cathy Galura told The STAR the company is now finalizing investments for a venture in Myanmar.
“The Minister of Agriculture there is asking us to do the same business as to what we have here. So that will likely require a rice and seed production plant. But we will be doing that with local partner as well,” she said.
Aside from its venture in Myanmar, SL Agritech also intends to invest heavily on the expansion of its facilities in the country to cater to the rising demand for its products.
“There is a huge demand locally. So we’ll be spending roughly P200 million for next year for expansion of storage and post-harvest facilities. Specifically, we are expanding our facility in Talavera, Nueva Ecija to handle big volumes because there is also a huge demand for our premium rice,” Galura said.
SL Agritech is the manufacturer of the Doña Maria brand of premium brown and white rice. It likewise grows planting lines of high-yielding hybrid rice seeds both in the Philippines and overseas.
The company currently operates plants in Laguna, Davao and Nueva Ecija.
The firm has been exporting to countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East for several years now and recently made shipments to Los Angeles, New York and Micronesia.
A subsidiary of Sterling Paper Group of Companies, SL Agritech started operations in 1998 as an entity performing research work on hybrid rice.