Olam To Build New Wheat Mill In Ghana

Olam International Limited, a leading global integrated supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients has announced that it will invest US$31.5 million to set up a Greenfield 500 metric tonne-per day wheat mill near the port of Tema. Ghana is one of Olam�s key investment destinations for building a configuration of wheat milling assets. The investment in the wheat mill represents another step in the pipeline of initiatives ear-marked for Ghana as well as the rest of Africa. In a statement issued in Accra, Mr. Amit Agrawal, Country Head of Olam Ghana, said: �We plan to invest an additional US$8.0 million approximately in logistics related assets to support the wheat milling and other operations in Ghana. The wheat milling project will commence next month and is expected to be completed by September 2011. The company aims to achieve annual flour production of 115,000 metric tonnes within three years, making it Ghana�s third largest flour mill. �Africa is key to Olam�s business and within Africa, Ghana stands out as a highly strategic component in our company�s growth plans. We continue to look for profitable opportunities to invest in the agriculture and agro-processing sectors of the Ghanaian economy," he said. Wheat flour is a significant and highly demanded food component among Ghanaians, a consumption trend which Olam believes would grow further over the next few years as incomes increase in the country. Mr. Agrawal said, �we believe that this wheat milling project can contribute significantly to Ghana�s food security plans, create employment and generate no less than GH�20 million per year as government revenue in the form of taxes and duties through this initiative.� Olam Ghana, a subsidiary of Olam International, has a 15-year track record in Ghana as a major supply chain manager of agricultural products. It is engaged in export of agricultural commodities including cocoa, cashew, sheanuts and wood products. It also imports and distributes rice, sugar, dairy products, tomato paste and edible oil through its extensive country wide sales network. It is also among the country�s leading licensed buying companies for cocoa, sourcing cocoa from a network of over 1000 suppliers and delivering to Ghana Cocoa Board.