Agro-industrial conglomerate Mong Reththy Group is constructing a new $10 million feed mill to supply its own livestock operations as well as the domestic market, the group’s eponymous president and CEO said yesterday.

“We will focus on producing feed for pigs, fish, chickens and ducks as an initial step,” Mong Reththy said.

He said the feed mill was being built on 10 hectares in Prey Nop district of Preah Sihanouk province. The new factory will have a capacity to produce 20 tonnes of animal feed per hour from locally grown corn and paddy rice, or about 60,000 tonnes per year.

Reththy said his company had invested $10 million in the project. He originally planned to open the feed mill next month, but recently lengthened the construction timeline due to unforseen delays.

“There is still some minor work to be done, so we have extended the launch of operations from August until the end of the year,” he said.

According to officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Cambodia currently has eight animal feed mills in operation, the largest of which is Thai-owned CP Cambodia.

The factories supply over 1 million tonnes of feed per year to the domestic market, covering about 80 per cent of its demand.

Srun Poav, director of the Cambodian Pig Farmer Association, said the addition of a new feed mill would help improve margins for the Kingdom’s livestock farmers and bring consumer prices down.

“It is good for farmers when there are a lot of local feed mill factories as the competition helps bring prices down,” he said.

“However, we must be concerned about the quality of the feed in the market, and the government should monitor it closely.”