F&N’s facility in Rojana Industrial Park, Ayutthaya, under its unit F&N Dairies (Thailand) Ltd, had ceased operations due to the massive floods following unusually heavy moonson rains.
“We are looking at a back-up plan including utilising Petaling Jaya’s capacity to back it up and accelerate the construction of our new dairy plant in Pulau Indah,” he told reporters at the inauguration of its RM42-million three-in-one monoblock production plant here yesterday.
Some 300 of the 2,150 factories in the ancient capital Ayutthya were affected by the floods, causing many to stop work temporarily.
“Only God knows how long our factory in Thailand will cease it operations,” he said.
Earlier, Ng said the new production line at its soft drinks manufacturing facility in Shah Alam would cater to Malaysia’s growing demand for beverage polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
The RM42-million investment in the line encompassed machinery, equipment and training.
He said the high-tech line would boost F&N’s carbonated soft drinks (CSD) PET output by 30 per cent to 672,000 bottles per day or 139.2 million bottles a year, making it one of the fastest production lines in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We recognise the potential of the ready-to-drink beverage market which is growing at close to eight per cent, and CSD accounts for 28 per cent of that market,” he said.
The investment had also significantly enhanced the green capacity of the plant, which had been running at full capacity since August last year, Ng said.
He said the line used 15 per cent less water, with water consumption dropping by about 12,500 cubic metres annually, and about eight per cent less electricity than conventional lines, while energy consumption is lower by five per cent.
“We have cut down our overall carbon footprint by over 15 per cent. This is the right direction as we not only want to grow our market but are cognisant of the need to expand in a manner that is responsible and protective of the environment,” he said. — Bernama
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