Australian firm acquires Vietnamese processing mill
SunRice Group has completed the acquisition of a rice processing mill in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, the first direct financial investment of the Australian business in Vietnam.
Rice is packaged at the Song Hau Food Company in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – SunRice Group has completed theacquisition of a rice processing mill in the Mekong Delta province of DongThap, the first direct financial investment of the Australian business inVietnam.
The Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia citedSunRice as saying that this is an important step towards establishing a fullyvertically integrated and sustainable supply chain in Vietnam.
This firm will invest in improving and expandingthe mill and purchasing equipment, in order to increase whitening and polishingcapacity and to add a new packing line. This will ensure that the mill satisfyhigh quality and safety standards and customers’ requirements.
The mill is anticipated to be fully operationalduring the first half of 2019 with a processing capacity of around 260,000 drypaddy tonnes per year.
SunRice CEO Rob Gordon said the purchase of afully owned mill in Vietnam is the latest in a series of acquisitions andinvestments that have been made to advance SunRice’s 2022 Growth Strategy.
He added his business has also signed memorandaof understanding with two Mekong Delta provincial governments. These documentscommit the parties to grow sustainably sourced rice to a quality andspecification tailored to the firm’s end markets, and, in time, to growIP-protected rice varieties bred specifically for SunRice.
SunRice has become an established player in theMekong Delta rice industry and now accounts for over 5 percent of allVietnamese rice exports and more than 50 percent of its Japonica style riceexports, according to Gordon.-VNA
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Rice is packaged at the Song Hau Food Company in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho (Photo: VNA) 
