KUALA LUMPUR: Rhone Ma Holdings Bhd's new plant is expected to increase the company's production capacity by four times from the existing capacity of 2,500 tonnes per annum.

The RM40 million new plant is located at the Nilai Utama Enterprise Park, Nilai, Negri Sembilan, is part of the company's business expansion plans to provide end-to-end animal health solutions.

The facility is also aimed at ramping up the production capacity of its own-brand animal health products, particularly pharmaceuticals and feed additives.

Presently, the new plant commenced operations in April 2021 is running at more than 35 per cent capacity.

Rhone Ma anticipated the new plant to reach maximum capacity by 2023.

Rhone Ma group managing director Dr Lim Ban Keong said this is an exciting time for the company.

"Today's officiation could not come at a better time as we begin a new and hopefully prosperous year for the company.

"On behalf of Rhone Ma, I would like to thank the Negeri Sembilan state government for their support in making our expansion plan a reality," said Dr Lim in a statement today.

He said the new plant is strategically located and easily accessible via major highways such as the PLUS highway and the LEKAS highway, which would be convenient for distributing its products to customers, predominantly located in the central region of Peninsular Malaysia.

"Aside from the domestic market, our own-brand animal health products are also exported to Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar.

"The acceptance of our own-brand products abroad goes to show that Malaysian brands are also of exceptional quality and can stand toe-to-toe with other global brands," he said.

Meanwhile, the company has applied for the good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.

This ensures that the products manufactured at the new plant are safe, efficacious and of good quality.

The company expect the certification to be approved by the second quarter of 2022.

With the new plant fully operational, Dr Lim said the company would cater to the increasing demand for its own-brand products from its continuously expanding clientele.

"This, combined with our strategic location, will strengthen Rhone Ma's presence and further boost our position as one of the key animal health and nutrition players in Malaysia and across the Southeast Asian region," he added.

Thailand is the largest export market, contributing about 48 per cent to the company's export market revenue in 2021.

Currently, Rhone Ma owns a GMP-compliant plant in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The existing GMP-compliant plant operates at full capacity, translating to 637 tonnes per annum.