[Market Focus] Woomtree Farm Rises on President Lee's "Climate-Adaptive Agriculture" Pledge... Supporting High Farm Income with K-Crops

Woomtree Farm is showing strong performance. The news that the construction of the nation's largest smart farm complex, the "Chungnam Global Horty Complex (Agricultural Bio Complex)," is gaining momentum appears to be impacting the company's stock price. Previously, President Lee Jaemyung pledged during the presidential election to "guarantee advanced-country-level farm income and introduce a disaster safety net." President Lee also announced agricultural, forestry, livestock, and food policy pledges, stating, "In the era of climate crisis, the government will take responsibility for food security and create a happy rural community where everyone wants to live."

As of 11:02 a.m. on June 10, Woomtree Farm was trading at 2,295 KRW, up 12.5% from the previous day.

Woomtree Farm announced that, through its subsidiary Nine Farm, it signed a purchase agreement on May 30 to acquire 152,135.2 square meters (approximately 46,000 pyeong) of land from Hyundai Construction for 15,153 million KRW. The company paid 7,576.5 million KRW, representing 50% of the purchase price, the previous day. With the smooth payment of the deposit, the establishment of the nation's largest smart farm complex has accelerated.

The project involves an investment of over 330 billion KRW to create the nation's largest smart farm agricultural bio complex, spanning 150,000 pyeong. Funding will come from Chungcheongnam-do and Seosan City’s own capital, regional revitalization investment funds, and private investment.

For the construction of the smart farm, which is the core facility of the agricultural bio complex and has a budget allocation of about 90 billion KRW, a state-of-the-art semi-closed glass greenhouse will be built, with Woomtree Farm taking charge of overall project management.

Woomtree Farm is expected to secure a stable supply channel by producing over 6,000 tons of fruits and vegetables annually at this site, generating more than 30 billion KRW in new sales.

A Woomtree Farm representative stated, "The construction of the nation's largest smart farm complex will be a major milestone not only for the related industry but also for Woomtree Farm. By successfully completing the development of this cutting-edge complex, we will lead innovation in global K-smart farms."

Im Sangkuk, a researcher at KB Securities, commented, "The core of future agriculture is the convergence with high value-added crop cultivation utilizing smart farms," adding, "Expectations for the global expansion of Woomtree Farm, a leading company in K-crops and K-smart farms, are rising." He continued, "With the rapid aging of rural communities, the domestic and international demand for smart farms, whose high productivity and efficiency have been proven, is expected to gradually increase."

Woomtree Farm has vertically integrated the smart farm-related value chain (installation, construction, cultivation, processing, and sales). The company is currently planning to export smart farms not only domestically but also to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In particular, attention is focused on crop diversification and improving profit margins based on its solid cash cow, "Tomango." As the era of zero-calorie products arrives, demand for stevia agricultural products, such as stevia tomatoes, is also expected to increase.