September 22, 2008
South Korean farm cooperative to open feed factory in US
South Korea's agricultural cooperative said Friday that it will open a feed factory in the Oregon, US next month and their first feed shipment is expected in late October.
The factory was bought from ACX Pacific Northwest Inc. with preparations underway to produce feed for shipment to South Korea, Nonghyup Feed Co. said.
The company, a subsidiary of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup), said opening the plant is significant since the feed that is to be sent can be priced US$5-10 cheaper per tonne compared to other US suppliers.
This can help limit moves by other companies to raise prices, while at the same time ensuring that a steady supply of good quality feed can be brought in from the US, according to a Nonghyup spokesperson.
In 2007, South Korea produced 3.61 million tonnes of various feed and imported 999,000 tonnes to meet domestic demand.
In addition to the US plant, Nonghyup said it is pushing to develop a large-scale corn farm in Indonesia that can be used for animal feed.