Thread: Unilever cancels planned Thailand move

Unilever cancels planned Thailand move

(BangkokPost.com from reports)

Consumer products giant Unilever has abandoned plans to move its Australian dry foods operation to Thailand and instead will shift it to a nearby plant which also is in Victoria state.

It appears that Australian pull, rather than dissatisfaction with new Thailand investment regulations, lay behind the decision.

The Knoxfield dry food operations was to move to Thailand but instead will move to Unilever's Tatura facility.

The Dutch-Anglo firm now says it will invest A$58 million (about 1.6 billion baht) in expanding its Tatura plant to incorporate dry food production. The Tatura plant produces foods such as Continental Cup-A-Soups and Lipton Ice Tea. The company said the transfer is due to begin in mid-2007 and will be completed in 2008.

Unilever said that support from local Australian government authorities influenced its decision to keep production in Australia. The company previously said it would close its Knoxfield plant in October 2006 and considered a move to Thailand.