Hyundai Heavy starts 2nd Russian farming business

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. announced on Tuesday that it has set up its second agricultural business in Russia.

For the new subsidiary, Hyundai Mikahailovka Agro, the shipbuilding conglomerate took over the Asinovka farm located 150 kilometers north of Vladivostok.

According to Hyundai Heavy’s estimates, Hyundai Mikahailovka Agro will be able to produce 4,000 metric tons of beans, 2,000 tons of wheat and 1,000 tons of oats from 2012 from its 6,700 hectare farmland.

Hyundai Heavy added that it plans to invest $13 million in the new agricultural subsidiary over the next three years, and that it aims to raise the subsidiary’s annual sales to $3.75 million in 2014.

The company also said that it plans to import some of the new farm’s output into Korea.

Combined with the output of Hyundai Heavy’s other farm-operation, the shipbuilder’s annual harvest capacity stands at about 15,000 tons.

The company’s first agricultural subsidiary, Hyundai Khorol Agro, is also located in the Primorsky Krai, and was established in 2009.

According to Hyundai Heavy, Hyundai Khorol Agro produced 7,800 tons of crops including corn and beans in 2010.

The company said that the new subsidiary will not only strengthen its budding natural resource development business, but also aid Korea in raising its food self sufficiency.

According to the company, Korea is self sufficient for about 27.1 percent of its food requirements, which the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries aims to raise to 65 percent by 2020.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)