Business is booming at farm-machinery firm

"In general, the second half of the year is the harvest season. For this year, I believe farm output will be better than it was last year. So we may revise our revenue target upwards in the second half of the year," president Veerachai Chaochankit said yesterday.

The market leader enjoyed a 42-per-cent increase in sales in the first half, up from 10-20 per cent on average in recent years.

Increases in prices for agricultural products have made farmers richer, so now they can afford to buy new equipment for increasing their productivity.

Veerachai believes the agrarian up-cycle will run at least three to five more years.

For that period, the company has enough production capacity to serve the market.

Next March, the company will start up its new tractor plant, with production capacity of 25,000-30,000 units per year. Its other equipment,  such as a combination harvester and rice transplanter, have enjoyed a good response from farmers.

The company hiked its prices by 10 per cent over last year due to the increase in global steel prices.

Siam Kubota will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year by pushing further into South Asia.

"We want to be the hub for agricultural machinery in Asean, but I know it's quite difficult. I wish to see Kubota's products in each Asean country, so that we can call ourselves the hub for agricultural machinery," he said.

The company exports diesel engines, walk-behind tractors and other equipment to Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and India. It is the market leader in Laos and Cambodia.

It will expand into Bangladesh this year after recently establishing a distribution and service office in India.