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AGRANA opens additional facility at the corn starch mill in Aschach an der Donau | Upper Austria

Дата: 11.10.2017

Today, AGRANA opened a new facility at its corn starch mill in Aschach an der Donau in Upper Austria. Following the investment of around EUR 80 million, AGRANA has increased its processing capacity at the plant by a third to 540,000 tonnes of corn per year. The additional capacity has also created 25 new jobs in the region.  

The Aschach site processes corn to make high-quality products for downstream processing industries. Corn starch is used, on the one hand, mainly in technical applications (such as in the paper, cosmetic and construction industries) and, on the other, in the food industry, e.g. in the production of noodles and bakery products. As a whole, AGRANA processes the commodities corn, potatoes and wheat to make starches at five production sites in Europe and sells 2.5 million tonnes of starch-based products to 2,000 customers worldwide operating in over 20 different sectors.

 

Specialities strategy

AGRANA relies on a speciality-based strategy in the starch market: “Although our starch mills are smaller than those of US competitors, this makes it easier to flexibly manufacture speciality products. We exploit our expertise to focus on speciality starches, e.g. for clean label starches which have not been chemically modified, and therefore have invested in boosting capacity and value-adding technologies here in Aschach. We are also increasingly processing special corn varieties here, such as waxy corn, and play a leading role in terms of organic and GMO-free starches for the food industry,” highlights AGRANA CEO Johann Marihart.

 

Development of Aschach site

This facility opened in 1936 as a potato starch mill. In 1958, the site was converted into a corn starch mill with a milling capacity of 60 tonnes of corn per day. The plant has been repeatedly expanded since 1984, particularly since Austria joined the EU. The preceding development phase took place in 2006/2007 and focused mainly on the modernisation of infrastructure and more effective environmental protection. Production takes place year-round and mainly involves operating in four shifts. 280 personnel at the Aschach site ensure that the various processes are performed efficiently.

 

About AGRANA

AGRANA adds value to agricultural commodities to produce top quality foodstuffs and numerous industrial upstream products. Around 8,600 personnel working at 55 production facilities worldwide generate consolidated revenues of around EUR 2.6 billion. The Group was founded in 1988 and is today the leading sugar company in Central and Eastern Europe as well as being a key producer, in the Starch segment, of special products and bioethanol in Europe. In addition, AGRANA is the global leader in fruit preparations and a major producer of fruit juice concentrates in Europe.

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