Briefs

Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the |manufacturer of Subaru automobiles, |will start producing vehicles in |Thailand in 2019, the company said in a statement.
The Japanese automaker yesterday announced its plan to enter a basic agreement on establishing a joint venture next month with TC Manufacturing and Assembly (Thailand) Co (TCMA TH), a |subsidiary of Tan Chong International, to start production of Subaru vehicles in Thailand.
Currently, Subaru production in Southeast Asia is conducted at a CKD |(completely knocked down) assembly |plant of Tan Chong Motor Assemblies in Malaysia, which builds the Subaru XV |and Forester.
“With a view to enhancing Subaru’s |competitiveness and further growth in Southeast Asia, FHI has decided to start production in Thailand by a new and soon-to-be-established joint-venture company, Tan Chong Subaru Automotive (Thailand) Co Ltd, 74.9 per cent of which will be owned by TCMA TH and 25.1 per cent by FHI. The new joint venture aims to begin production in 2019,” the announcement stated.
Production in Malaysia will continue, and Tan Chong International will sell the vehicles produced both in Malaysia and Thailand through its Subaru dealer |network.
In its mid-term management vision “Prominence 2020” announced on May 9, 2014, FHI laid out initiatives to develop a strong business foundation in Southeast Asia as part of its effort to build a strong business structure.
With this new joint-venture project, |FHI aims to further Subaru sales in the growing Southeast Asian market, |it said.

URC TO BUILD A CANDY PLANT IN THAILAND
 

Philippines-based industrial powerhouse Universal Robina Corporation has set aside 7.2 billion pesos (Bt5.1 billion) for capital spending this year, mostly to improve logistics and build new capacity for its food business across the region.
Based on a regulatory filing, the budget for the food and beverage group’s capital outlay this year was 7.8 per cent lower than the capital expenditures last year.
In 2016, URC reported that it had |spent 7.81 billion pesos for the following: Site development and building constructions; installation of new wafer and coffee mixing lines; rehabilitation/upgrade of |beverage facilities in the Philippines; 
construction of warehouse and coffee manufacturing facilities in Vietnam; |new warehouse, improvements in the |biscuit and wafer lines and Griffin’s packaging conveyor in Thailand; additional Nice n Natural |bar line; machine upgrades and building |and traffic management improvements |in New Zealand; warehouse construction and biscuit line installationin |Myanmar.
For 2017, the bulk of URC’s capital-spending budget amounting to 4.8 billion pesos was set aside for the branded consumer business, which includes expansion of capacity and improvement of handling, distribution and operational efficiencies of new lines for brands Nips, Conbar and Cannister.
For its offshore consumer business, |URC is also investing in a new factory |building in Malaysia, a new candy plant in Thailand, a new biscuit line in Indonesia, bottle-making equipment for its Vietnam beverage business, and a “mega” |distribution centre warehouse and a |new raw-material and packing-material warehouse in the Philippines. |– Philippine Daily Inquirer