Korean firm to put up $200-M paper plant in Isabela

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines - – Talks are underway between the provincial government of Isabela and a Korean company for the establishment of a $200-million paper plant facility in the province’s Cauayan City. 

The Korean-owned Corn Pulp and Paper Holdings and its local partners Araneta and Lee Consulting Co., will use corn stalks in the production of paper.

Danilo Tumamao, Isabela provincial agriculturist, said Isabela, a corn-producing province, could sustain the operation of the plant. 

The paper plant will be constructed at the former Monterey farm in San Pablo village.

Isabela produced 1.26 million metric tons of corn last year, making it ideal for the multibillion-peso venture.

Gov. Faustino Dy III, who met with the company’s president Park Jong Bong last year, said  the project would boost not only Isabela's economy but also that of the Cagayan Valley region.

Isabela’s Reina Mercedes town hosts Asia’s largest corn processing plant, which is owned by Mindanao Grains Processing Co. and the Philippine Maize Federation Inc.

A P6-billion bio-ethanol plant is also being developed in San Mariano town, which is expected to produce at least 100,000 liters of ethanol a day.