InterviewP&G to expand Asia perfumes plant

05 March 2008 09:05  [Source: ICIS news]

By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, will be able to grow its perfumes output at its new Singapore plant as regional demand rises over the next 10 years, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

The plant, its first in Asia and fourth globally, could also become its largest perfume facility in the world, overtaking its other facilities in New Jersey, US, and Germany, Bena Halecky, product supply director at P&G Chemicals, Fragrance and Flavours, said in an interview.

However, the timing and capacity of the expansions would depend on the retail volume growth of its consumer products, she added at the plant’s opening ceremony.

With three-fifths of the world’s consumers in Asia, the region has a large growth potential that would track GDP growth, Halecky said.

The Singapore plant, with a capacity of 3m kg/year of perfume or about 20% of its global output, would help cut down time and cost as the company previously supplied Asia from its other plants in the US, Europe and Mexico.

“This could reduce by several days or months depending on location and perfume,” Halecky said, adding that P&G has more than 20 manufacturing plants in Asia.

P&G has five major perfume compounding partners – Firmenich, Givaudan, International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), Takasago, Symrise – all with operations in Singapore.

The plant could produce 20 types of perfume, which would increase to more than 100 in 10 years, Halecky said, adding that it would use more than 600 ingredients.

Raw materials for the Singapore plant are shipped from around the world, mainly from north America and Europe. However, only a small percentage of oleochemicals was used so high crude palm oil (CPO) prices did not have an impact on its perfumes business, Hackley said.

P&G’s aim was to develop more natural ingredients sourced locally from India and China, but some of them would take a while to qualify and develop, she added.

“We want to grow our technical capability in the plant significantly more. Because the noses are so good in Singapore,” Hackley said, adding that Singapore had a 70% pass rate for nose tests compared with 30-40% on average.

The city-state was chosen for its logistics capability and local talent after considering 18 different locations such as Japan, China and the Philippines, Hackley said.

Some of the 25 staff at the plant could multi-task in maintenance, logistics and operations work, she added.

By: Florence Tan
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