ISE Foods Holdings' facilities in Singapore will feature state-of-the-art technology such as artificial intelligence. - PHOTO: NABEL
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Singapore’s fourth egg farm, slated to begin operations in 2024, is facing delays attributed to rising construction costs and challenges linked to its biosecurity measures, The Straits Times has learnt.
When fully operational, the $100 million farm would have the capacity to produce 360 million eggs a year.
This would enable Singapore to meet up to 50 per cent of its egg consumption needs – up from around 29 per cent as at 2022 – and put the country significantly closer to achieving its 30 by 30 goal of producing 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
The farm, owned by local company ISE Foods Holdings (IFH), aims to cover the full ecosystem of egg production here, which can help enhance Singapore’s food security.
The firm’s egg laying facility in Lim Chu Kang was supposed to commence operations in 2024, followed by a day-old chick hatchery at the same site, a parent pullet farm in Tuas and a parent layer farm in Sungei Tengah.
A parent pullet farm rears young chickens till they are around 16 to 18 weeks old. These mature chickens are then transferred to the parent layer farm to breed and produce fertile eggs, which are sent to the hatchery.
The female chicks that hatch will then be transported to the commercial egg farm, where they are reared as egg-producing hens.
IFH expects to produce some five million day-old chicks yearly.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and IFH said in 2021, when they signed an agreement to develop the four facilities, that the farm would break ground progressively from 2022.
They added that the farm would adopt state-of-the-art technology and environmentally sustainable practices in areas ranging from remote monitoring of animal health and advanced climatic control, to odour and waste management.
The farm would also create jobs for Singaporeans in the agri-food and sustainability sectors.
Currently, Singapore’s three other egg farms – Chew’s Agriculture, Seng Choon Farm and N&N Agriculture – import day-old chicks for their local egg production.
IFH is mainly backed by ISE Capital Management (ICM), which holds a 70 per cent stake in the company. ICM is an investment vehicle that was previously majority-owned by Mr Hikonobu Ise, who also owns ISE Foods, the top egg producer in Japan and the sixth-largest egg producer in the world.
Other backers of IFH include mainboard-listed Ellipsiz via an 80 per cent stake in ISE Capital Management, and investment firm Vertex Holdings, which holds a 30 per cent stake in IFH via its Vertex Exploratory Fund and its Vertex Ventures SEA Fund IV.
In an update to the Singapore Stock Exchange in September 2023, Ellipsiz said IFH’s review of biosecurity measures and development costs may entail modifications to the farm’s design or layout plan, which may in turn lead to delays in the development schedule and completion of the farm.
According to Ellipsiz’s half-yearly results for FY2024, IFH is still in the process of finalising plans with the relevant regulatory bodies regarding its biosecurity measures, in view of an increase in disease outbreaks in recent years.
Egg production here dropped in the first quarter of 2022 due to an outbreak of Newcastle disease at Seng Choon Farm. The viral disease causes a temporary drop in hens’ egg production.
Egg farms take biosecurity measures to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of diseases.
According to SFA’s licensing conditions for poultry farms, biosecurity measures include ensuring people entering the production areas take proper sanitation measures and the proper disposal of dead birds, manure and other forms of waste.
The farm’s birds or hatching eggs must also be from sources tested to be free from salmonella.
SFA said in response to queries that the requirement to anchor and secure critical parts of the egg supply chain, which includes the operation of the four facilities, was part of IFH’s unique proposition to SFA when the agreement was signed in 2021.
Construction delays due to Covid-19 and higher operating costs, which still persist today, have impacted the development of many new farms, including IFH, the agency added.
SFA will continue working closely with IFH to provide “appropriate support and regulatory facilitation” for it to successfully set up its farm.
Ellipsiz also said IFH paid land premium and ancillary costs of $5.9 million in July 2022 for three plots of land for its egg layer farm, a day-old-chick hatchery and a parent layer farm.
The firm added that IFH is “reviewing the technicalities and exploring cost-effective options for equipment and materials” in the light of rising construction costs due to heightened geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures.
“The objective is to ensure from the outset that necessary actions are taken to effectively manage and minimise risks of potential disruptions in the farm’s future operations,” it said.
IFH, Ellipsiz and Vertex Holdings either did not respond to ST’s requests for comment or declined to do so. - The Straits Times/ANN
