CP IN JAPAN, CHINA TALKS ON RUBBER

       The Charoen Pokphand Group plans to proceed with plans to set up rubber-processing plants in Thailand with Japanese and Chinese partners after being cleared in the sapling court case.
       The Supreme Court yesterday acquitted 44 defendants, including CP executives and former agriculture minister Newin Chidchob, on corruption charges stemming from the controversial Bt1.44-billion rubber-sapling project.
       Cleared of charges and driven by a desire to help turn Thailand into the world's No-1 rubber producer, the company is working closely with Japan's Marubeni and Starlane Corp, a leading trader and importer of vapour-heated fruit, with a view to cooperation in the production of rubber and related products.
       CP's Crop Integration Business Group's first rubber-processing plant, which will be established next year, requires an investment of about Bt100 million. While the kind of item to be produced has not yet been finalised, rubber bar is seen as having potential.
       Montri Congtrakultien, president of the Crop Integration Business Group, said plants were needed to process latex produced under the government's "1 Million Rubber Trees" project by 2011.
       Talks with Marubeni started more than three years ago. The Japanese trading giant has interests in the auto-tyre industry and is a tyre service provider under the B-Quik brand.
       Starlane is a partner in CP Starlane in Thailand, which supplies vapour-heated fruits for export to Japan, and is another potential partner for rubber and related projects in Thailand.
       "The two potential partners have high technology which will facilitate production of value-added items made from rubber," Montri said.
       In addition, Montri has proposed to Thanakorn Seriburi, vice chairman of CP Group responsible for industrial businesses and investment in China, joint investment in developing rubber products to serve some of the group's business in China, such as in the automobile and motorcycle sectors.
       A business plan for rubber products will be ready in November.
       To facilitate the group's rubber business, six nurseries have been established in Loei, Phayao, Udon Thani, Buri Ram, Kamphaeng Phet and Chiang Rai provinces. The strategy is to ensure distribution of rubber saplings, particularly JVP 80, which yields twice the liquid rubber of normal varieties.
       Besides rubber, Montri said the group would focus on its rice, palm oil, fruit and agricultural engineering businesses.
       CP's total sales revenue is set to hit Bt2 billion this year, but the rubber business generates less than 5 per cent of this amount.