Samyang Genex to Advance into "Super Cassava" Business

South Korea's Samyang Genex (President & CEO Kim Ryang), will enter the "super cassava" business which is one type of food ingredients. Cassava is the root of a plant which is grown in tropical and subtropical regions. Rich in starch, cassava is processed to be used as a main ingredient for various foods and is a staple in Africa and Indonesia. It is also used to produce bio-ethanol.

Samyang Genex announced on September 22 that the company will conclude a joint-investment agreement with Indonesia's IDB to enter field trials in Indonesia's Nusa Teunggara Timor (NTT) in 2009.

Samyang Genex's mid-to long-term plan is promoting the business to secure bio-energy resources in Indonesia and build local plants to manufacture starch sugar.

To this end, the company has established a channel to diversify its business and to make inroads into overseas markets by advancing into the "super cassava" business.

Samyang Genex will harvest "super cassava" in its 500 hectares of land in NTT by 2009-end. If the harvest is successful, the company will invest around 40 billion won ($33.22 million) in the future in 30,000 hectares of land to produce 2.4 million tons of "super cassava".

The company estimates its annual sales volume to post 100 billion won.

Productivity of bioengineered "super cassava," jointly produced by Samyang Genex and IDB, is four times higher than ordinary cassava with an enhanced level of starch by 25 percent.

"Super cassava" will be used as main ingredients to make sugar starch and various types of functional food as well as industrial food.

[Yen-mi Hong/ JYJ]

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