Cargill has a presence in Indonesia’s palm oil, cocoa, and animal feed industries, however, the company is signaling plans to invest $1 billion over the next three to four years to expand into Indonesia’s poultry sector and expand its palm oil business in the country. Earlier in 2014, Japan stopped meat imports from China following a food safety scandal and began negotiations with Indonesia to resume poultry shipments after a 10 year ban. Any agreement between the two countries could be worth $200 million and at the same time, domestic poultry demand in Indonesia is growing as well, as more middle class consumers turn away from rice toward a more bread and meat based diet, creating an opportune time for Cargill to make advances. The planned $1 billion investment will also be allocated toward expanding Cargill’s palm oil business in the county. Currently the company is Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer with plantations covering 40,000 hectares. Cargill has invested $700 million in Indonesia over the past four years – $100 million of which was invested in the company’s cocoa processing plant, which upon officially opening this week will have a capacity of 70,000 tons. The company has not ruled out possible future increases to its cocoa processing capacity in the country. To read further:
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