MANILA (Yosefardi) – Phillipine-based Roxas Holdings Inc (RHI) expects its partnership with First Pacific Co Ltd to set the stage for the sugar producer’s expansion in Southeast Asia amid the impending regional integration, InterAksyon.com reported Wednesday (Feb 19).
During its stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday, RHI chairman Pedro E. Roxas said the company may venture in Indonesia through Indofoods, a unit of First Pacific, and forge more partnerships to serve the fast-growing Asian market.
“Indonesia consumes 6 million tons of sugar and it produces only 2 million tons so we hope to export from here. Indofood is the biggest food manufacturer in Indonesia and it uses a lot of sugar. It is also into cane production. We hope we can do some collaboration and joint venture,” RHI president and chief executive officer Renato C. Valencia told reporters.
Aside from Indonesia, RHI is looking at Vietnam and Cambodia for expansion. Nearly a fifth of the company’s production is exported to the US, Japan and Korea.
“The Asean is growing. The upward potential of demand growth is there. In the medium to long-term, demand will continue to grow and prices will be moving north,” Roxas said.