Pioneer exports corn seeds

JAKARTA (JP): United States-based corn seed producer PT Pioneer Hibrida Indonesia said on Monday it had exported 200 tons of corn seed to Japan.

Pioneer country manager Andy Gumala said Japan was the third overseas market Pioneer had entered after Thailand and the Philippines.

After Japan, the company plans to enter the South Korean and European markets, he said.

The company currently operates two hybrid corn seed plants in Kabanjahe, North Sumatra, and Malang, East Java, with production capacities of 10,000 tons a year and 5,000 tons a year, respectively.

In 1998, the company exported 3,000 tons of seed and sold another 5,000 tons on the domestic market.

Andy said the company's target was to export at least 50 percent of its seed production to compensate for the sluggish domestic market. (gis)