New $8.5 Million Cargill Animal Feed Plant Opens in Vietnam

On the heels of a historic visit to Vietnam by US President Barack Obama, Cargill announced Monday that its new $8.5 million animal feed facility in Vietnam is open.

The facility, located in the Nam Cam Industrial Zone in the Nghe An province, produces feed for livestock and has a capacity of 66,000 metric tons per year, the company said in a press release. Cargill now owns 11 animal feed mills in the country.

“Vietnam is one of our best performing markets in our animal nutrition business globally,” said president of Cargill’s global feed and nutrition business, Sarena Lin, in a statement. The company attributes its success with animal feed in the country to its employees there, Lin said, and “working closely” with the national and local government officials, farmers, suppliers, and customers.

The facility’s opening ceremony on May 28 was attended by global leaders of Cargill’s animal nutrition business, officials from Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), provincial authorities, representatives of the US embassy in Vietnam, and farmers from the north-central provinces of the country.

“In the face of a general slowdown in the Southeast Asia region, Vietnam’s economy continues to perform very well and foreign investments, along with exports, are on the rise,” said Jorge Becerra, managing director of Cargill’s feed and nutrition business in Vietnam in the statement. “The agricultural sector is currently suffering from a terrible drought, but in the long run, we, at Cargill, see good growth potential in the industry.”

Becerra said that the company plans to continue to invest in Vietnam’s agricultural sector.

“The opening of our plant in Nghe An is a testament of our commitment,” he said.

Another animal feed factory in the country is on the way, the company’s statement added. Cargill’s twelfth animal feed factory is currently under construction at Binh Duong, with an expected completion date in the second half of 2017. A production line at an animal feed facility in Dong Thap was completed in the first quarter of 2016.