Four cocoa downstream players in Indonesia plan to increase production capacity, and have allocated expansion funds worth a combined US$80 million.
Piter Jasman, Chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Industry Association, was quoted by Kontan as saying Tuesday that the four cocoa processing include PT Bumitangerang Mesindotama in Tangerang, Banten, which will increase annual production capacity from 60,000 tons to 110,000 tons.
PT General Food Industries in Bandung, West Java, which will increase production capacity from 80,000 tons per year to 120,000 tons per year. PT Asia Cocoa Indonesia (Guang Chong) in Batam, which will increase annual production capacity from 60,000 tons to 120,000 tons; and PT Cocoa Ventures Indonesia in Medan, North Sumatra, which will increase production capacity from 10,000 tons per year to 20,000 tons.
Piter said that the planned increase in the production capacity of the four companies will bolster the combined production capacity of the country’s overall cocoa processing industry to 400,000 tons from the current 240,000 tons per year.
In addition, Piter said, two new production facilities will start production in 2013 including one owned by PT Barry Callebaut Comextra Majora, which will have an installed production capacity of 30,000 tons per year. Another one is owned by Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate Inc., which plans up to 65,000 tons per year capacity.
Cargill plans to invest $100 million, while Barry Callebaut plans to spend $30 million for their new projects.
“The thriving investment in the cocoa downstream sector is the result of the government’s cocoa export tax policy,” Piter said. (rei)
