TOKYO -- Kao will spend around 10 billion yen ($85.1 million) to build a factory in Indonesia to produce raw materials for such items as shampoo, as it prepares to meet rising demand for high-quality Japanese consumables in Southeast Asia.
The consumer products maker plans to court Southeast Asia's growing middle-class market by producing goods with the same quality standards as in Japan. The new factory in Sumatra will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons. Kao will produce fatty acids using palm oil from Apical Group, a local producer and distributor of oils, to create such consumer products as detergent, shampoo and face wash.
