Iksan's WECAN GLOBAL pioneers the untapped Southeast Asian farm-machinery export market
Iksan's WECAN GLOBAL pioneers the untapped Southeast Asian farm-machinery export market
By Song Seung-uk · Jeonbuk Ilbo · 2024.05.23
A strong small company specializing in tractor implements such as rotavators and disc plows
A localization strategy in the Philippines pays off with a KRW 5.4 billion large order
Twenty years of relentless effort bear fruit in effective response to a fast-changing environment
Iksan-based farm-machinery manufacturer WECAN GLOBAL Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Jun-hwan) has succeeded in pioneering the Southeast Asian market, long barren ground for farm-machinery exports. The 20-year-old company has led the domestic market for tractor implements on the strength of solid quality, and its efforts to open export channels in step with the changing global farming environment are now bearing fruit.
Late last year WECAN GLOBAL won a tender project launched by the Philippine government for agricultural modernization, and is now delivering under a contract to supply a total of 2,106 units (906 rotavators, 900 disc plows, 300 loaders). Against last year's total sales of KRW 12.6 billion, it has already reached KRW 5.4 billion from Philippine exports alone this year, finding a way forward by succeeding overseas amid a continued domestic downturn.
The Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, has a low mechanization rate, so about 16% of its rice output is lost in harvesting, processing and distribution. WECAN GLOBAL, which specializes in rotavators and disc plows, developed tailored products through a strategic approach to local conditions and thorough market research, and established a localization strategy through close collaboration with local company Fit Corea to win the large order.
The company plans to solidify its position in Southeast Asia and build a systematic export base through mid-to-long-term plans, including a parts and assembly plant in the Philippines as a forward base, and a local subsidiary to open further sales channels and pursue coexistence with the local community. It also plans to expand exports to existing markets such as China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Chile, Peru, Nicaragua, the UK and Australia.
CEO Kim said, "Above all, I think building consumer trust in our products as sturdy and trouble-free was the biggest driver of this achievement. Rather than outsourcing parts for assembly, we make each part ourselves to build durable products, and we steadily build competitiveness." He added, "The Southeast Asian market was long an oligopoly of Japanese makers, but by continually studying the region's different farming methods and competing with tailored products, we succeeded. This order became an occasion for our machinery's excellent quality and technology to be recognized, and a chance for Korean farm machinery to gain new attention."
