ALSONS Aquaculture Corporation, exporter of Sarangani Bay premium bangus, is planning to build an export processing zone in their 1,200-hectare property in Alabel, Sarangani.
Jose Ma. Cabrera, the export manager of the company, said in Monday’s Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM Ecoland that they are planning to develop their property in Alabel into an export processing zone.
He said around 300-hectare of the property will be used for banana plantation. They also have initial plans for a feedmill plant to be built in the zone, they are still looking for locators as they continue to finalize the details of the processing zone.
Already included in this 1,200-hectare property is the existing 360-hectare aquaculture plant.
Alson Aquaculture Corporation started its operation in 1997 and after almost 20 years, the company had already been exporting their products to America, Canada, and Australia.
These are among their biggest markets outside the country. The company has recently started exporting to European countries particularly the United Kingdom and Italy. For Middle East, they have also started exporting to Qatar, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.
Cabrera said they have also projected a five percent growth for their Middle East market.
He added 60 percent or more than 3,000 metric tons yearly of their production is for export to the said countries.
“We ship every month. We ship about 10 to 12 40-footer container vans every month going out of the country,” said Cabrera adding that majority of these are going to USA and Canada.
Cabrera also said at present they are helping more than a thousand contracted workers in two cooperatives based in Alabel.