Agrana to Invest €56 Million in New Starch Factory
Sugar, starch and fruit group Agrana is investing Eur56m in building a starch factory for the production of wheat starch and gluten at the site of its bioethanol plant in Pischelsdorf in Lower Austria. The facility will start operations at the end of 2013 and boost the workforce at the Pischelsdorf site from the current level of around 80 to 120 people.
The plan is for the new facility to process around 250,000 tonnes of wheat to make 107,000 tonnes of wheat starch and 23,500 tonnes of wheat gluten as well as 55,000 tonnes of wheat bran. The wheat starch produced at the plant will largely be employed in technical applications (eg in the paper industry). Wheat gluten is used in the baking sector. It is also used in pet food for cats and dogs. The bran produced serves as animal feed.
Through its production of wheat starch, Agrana, which has specialised in the production of corn and potato starch, will be offering customers an additional starch product and thereby rounding off its product range in the starch segment.
The construction of the new wheat starch facility at the site of Agrana’s existing bioethanol plant will generate important synergies given that raw material constituents unused in the production of wheat starch and gluten can be used in the production of bioethanol and the high quality, GMO-free, protein-rich, animal feed Actiprot.
Juice Business
Meanwhile, Agrana and Raiffeisen Ware Austria (RWA) are considering a merger of their fruit juice concentrate subsidiaries Agrana Juice Holding and Ybbstaler Fruit Austria in the form of a joint venture.
Agrana Juice Holding has 12 production facilities in Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and China, as well as a warehouse in Germany. Ybbstaler Fruit Austria operates three processing plants, one in Austria and two in Poland.
The combined annual revenues of both fruit juice concentrate companies amount to around Eur250m. The joint venture will be fully consolidated by Agrana on the basis of a 50.01% stake. RWA will hold the remaining stake of 49.99%, with the option to increase this to 50 % after five years.
The joint venture will be based in Krollendorf, Lower Austria. The merger, which is subject to regulatory approval, is in response the increasing consolidation by both concentrate producers and bottlers within the European fruit juice market.
