Delta Agrofood to get Tk 1,200cr in soy, flour production
Delta Agrofood Industries, a joint venture of SEACOM and Samuda, is defined to get Tk 1,200 crore in the production of varied soy and wheat products with an try to meet up with the country's growing demand for healthier consumer goods.
Beneath the fresh investment, Delta Agrofood will set up a new factory to produce both crude and refined soyabean oil, soybean cake, soya milk and flour.
"SEACOM made a decision to undertake this initiative as wheat is just about the second most important meal in the country after rice," said Mohammed Amirul Haque, managing director of SEACOM.
"Since it is a simple industry for just about any country, we committed to wheat production with a view to build up the agro sector," he added.
As per market assessment by Delta Agrofood, the domestic demand for wheat has more than doubled over the past six years because of changing food habits and increased export of baked goods.
This resulted in a 116 % rise in imports as local cultivation fails to meet up with the country's needs despite having witnessed many significant changes in production, industry insiders said.
Besides, wholegrains are rapidly gathering popularity as a healthy option to traditional cereals when confronted with a rising trend of diabetes and obesity, they added.
Statistically, the daily consumption of wheat has truly gone up by about 42 % from 72 grammes in fiscal 2014-15 to 125 grammes at the moment, based on the Directorate General of Food and various traders.
The country's gross annual demand for the cereal currently stands at around 77 lakh tonnes, 85 per cent which is met through imports, as per data from the National Board of Revenue and Department of Agricultural Extension.
Similarly, the application of soybean oil and soybean cake has increased significantly over the years.
Soybean oil is currently the recommended cooking medium in Bangladesh while soybean cake is employed as animal feed in the poultry and fish farming industries.
The project, 40 % of which is being financed by Pubali Bank, will be developed across a 35-acre plot in Saidpur of Narayanganj. According to SEACOM's managing director, it was a strategic location due to the presence of a solid distribution channel.
"We will be in a position to create around 1,200 jobs with the new production facility. Commercial production is expected to get started on by end of the year," Haque said.
The per capita consumption of soybean oil in Bangladesh is currently 9.2 litres yearly, which is far below the global average of 25.2 litres.
However, this figure continues to go up consistent with peoples' increasing purchasing power, according to market analysis by LightCastle Partners.
From this backdrop, Delta Agrofood sees the potential to do well available in the coming days even though there are already several market players present in the country.
In its analysis, LightCastle also said the demand for edible oil in developing countries was set to surpass their developed counterparts next decade.
The business enterprise management firm described the markets of China, India and Bangladesh as types of places where in fact the demand for edible oil was growing.
Just 30 year ago, the country's entire demand for soybean oil was met through imports but eventually, some entrepreneurs began to refine imported crude soybean oil to locally produce edible oil, said SM Nashir Uddin, general manager of Delta Agrofood.
Now though, some entrepreneurs produce the finished product wholly through local sourcing without making any import, he added.
In line with the general manager, just 20 litres of edible oil can be created from 100 kilogrammes of soybean seed as the leftover soybean cake can be utilized as food for fish or poultry.
