Pilmico building new feedmill facilities in China, Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines — The Pilmico International Pte. Ltd., the international food subsidiary of the Aboitiz Group, is putting up new feedmill facilities in China and Vietnam next year to solidify its vision to become one of Asia’s leading integrated regional food and agribusiness companies.

In a briefing over the weekend, Pilmico Foods Corp. and Gold Coin Group president Tristan Aboitiz said the group is establishing new feedmills in Yunnan, China and Long An, Vietnam set to be completed by 2023.

“It is important we continue to grow our presence in the markets we are in. We are looking forward to do this via capacity expansions in China and Vietnam, which should be online in the fourth quarter of 2023,” he said.

Each livestock feedmill facility will have an additional capacity of 30 tons per hour (TPH), with completion slated in September 2023 for Vietnam and in December 2023 for China, based on company filings.

The Gold Coin Group under Pilmico International currently has four operating livestock feedmills in China – one in Kunming in Yunnan province, in Zhangzhou in Fujian province, in Zhuhai and in Dongguan in Guangdong province.

In Vietnam, it has three operating livestock mills located in Hai Duong and Ha Nam in North Vietnam and in Dong Nai in South Vietnam.

In September, GCMH exited Sri Lanka by selling its 100-percent equity interest in Gold Coin Feed Mills (Lanka) Ltd. (GCFL) to Glen Arbor Holdings (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

The divestment, which is expected to be completed by year-end, is aligned with the Aboitiz Group’s direction to grow its animal feeds business in other parts of SouthEast Asia and China markets, the company said.

The Gold Coin Group said it is pursuing fast-growing segments like aquafeeds and attractive geographies where it has a captive market and the ability to compete.

“In the regional feed business, we are continuously improving and enhancing the values of our products, which caters to a wide range of livestock, such as poultry, hogs, ducks, aqua, rabbits, gamefowl and pet food. It is important we continue to grow our presence in the markets we are in,” Aboitiz said.

Apart from putting up feedmills, Pilmico is also investing and expanding its research and development next year.

“Equally important is we ensure we add value to customers through our products and services and we are giving this an extra level of focus in the group in 2022 through expansion of R&D capabilities throughout the region. We believe this to be a growth area in 2023,” Aboitiz said.

The Gold Coin Group has two research facilities located in China and Malaysia.

The Aboitiz Food Group began it‘s international expansion in 2014 through Pilmico International’s initial acquisition of a 70-percent equity interest in Pilmico Vietnam Co. Ltd. (PVN), one of the largest aqua feeds producers in Vietnam.

Pilmico International acquired additional equity of 15 percent in 2017, and the remaining 15 percent in 2019, making PVN a wholly owned subsidiary of Pilmico International.

The company said the investment in PVN allowed the food group to gain a foothold in the Vietnamese aqua feeds business, and at the same time, expand its reach to other aqua farm customers.

Meanwhile, the food group eventually gained a wider foothold in ASEAN+China with its 75-percent acquisition of Gold Coin Management Holdings Pte. Ltd. (GCMH) and its remaining 25-percent equity interest in May 2019.

GCMH is the parent company of the Gold Coin Group and one of Asia’s largest multinational agri-business corporations with subsidiaries operating in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Langka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Brunei, the Philippines, Hong Kong and China.

To date, it now has more than 21 livestock and aqua feed mills across seven countries in the Asia-Pacific with an installed milling capacity of three million metric tons (MT) per year.

Aboitiz Group currently enjoys the position as the fourth largest animal feed producer in Southeast Asia based on internal market data on the capacities of major players within the market.