MALAYAN FLOUR MILLS IN JOINT VENTURE WITH TOYOTA TSUSHO

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFM) has formed a
joint venture with Toyoto Tsusho Corporation and Toyoto Tsusho (Singapore) Pte
Ltd to carry out trading of raw materials for animal feed.

The joint venture announced Friday allows the newly established company,
Premier Grain Sdn Bhd, to leverage on Toyoto Tsusho's global supply network to
get more feed grains, said MFM managing director Teh Wee Chye.

Toyota Tsusho, a member of the Toyota Motor Group, is the largest trading
company in Japan with businesses across the industry involving raw materials,
agriculture and high technology.

MFM will own 51 per cent of the joint venture, with the remaining 49 per
cent held by its Japanese partners.

"The joint venture will allow us to grow further in terms of economies of
scale and with this, we can put more grains in the pipeline via their global
network already established," Teh said after the signing ceremony here Friday.

The feed grains will be used internally and be for sale in the Malaysian
market, he said.

The signing was witnessed by Deputy International Trade and Industry
Minister Jacob Dungau Sagan.

Toyota Tsusho is currently handling feed grains from Brazil, Argentina and
Australia.

Teh said MFM was currently importing about 300,000 tonnes of feed grains
such as corn and soyoil and hoped to increase the amount to 500,000 tonnes via
the tie-up.

"The grain market in Malaysia is about three million tonnes annually. So,
there is more room for us to secure a bigger market share," he said.

MFM is engaged in the milling and selling of wheat flour with its allied
products.

Other activities include processing and selling of poultry products,
breeding and selling of day-old chicks and eggs, contract farming services,
manufacturing and selling of animal feed and related raw materials, provision
of transport management services, and investment holding.

"We see growth opportunities in the food business despite the economic
meltdown and we are committed to invest further in this sector," Teh said.

"This joint venture will strengthen our commitment towards it," he said. --
BERNAMA


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