China-backed $225M baby formula plant in Kingston, Ont. gets provincial investment
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Construction crews are currently working on Feihe International's first manufacturing site outside China. The facility will create more than 250 jobs
KINGSTON, Ont.—Queen’s Park has disclosed significant new funding for a baby formula manufacturing plant currently under construction in Kingston, Ont.
Backed by Chinese dairy firm Feihe International, crews started work on the $225 million facility this summer.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is currently on an Asian trade mission to China and Vietnam, met with company officials in Beijing last week after the province disclosed a $24 million investment in the plant.
The provincial government picking up approximately 10 per cent of the project costs is in line with funding for other manufacturing projects and will help the Beijing-based company set up the state-of-the-art plant, which will produce infant formula from both cow and goat milk. It’s Feihe’s first manufacturing facility outside China.
The 320,000 sq. ft. (approximately 30,000 square-metre) site is expected to directly create 277 jobs in Kingston. It will also buy milk from local suppliers, translating to more than 1,000 indirect jobs.
Feihe said it picked Kingston for its proximity to dairy farms and four U.S. border crossings.
The plant is scheduled to open in 2020.
