Hands up - Who makes four million tonnes of compound feed/year? Pffft, call yourself a player

ARASCO (Arabian Agricultural Services Company) have said it will expand its manufacturing capacity of compound feed to 4 million metric tons per year; a step that would make ARASCO among the 10 largest animal feed producers in the world.

Engineer Abdullah Alrubaian, ARASCO's Chairman of the Board (pictured), said: 'This significant expansion comes in response to the recent decision by the Saudi Government to reform the subsidy system to encourage the animal feed industry and lessen dependence on barley. The government expects the private sector to support the reform by increasing production capacity and it is fitting that ARASCO is the first to respond given its deep expertise in this industry and status as the largest feed miller in the region.'

Dr. Abdulmalik Alhusseini, ARASCO's Executive President, elaborated on the expansion plans, stating: 'The expansion will take place in two phases. The first phase is already under implementation and aims at increasing the production capacity from 1.6 to 3 million tons per year and should be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2009 without any hindrance to existing production. Our team has recently completed the plans for the second phase which will be implemented in 2009 to increase capacity to 4 million tons per year making ARASCO one of the top 10 feed millers worldwide.'

He continued: 'Furthermore, an important advantage is that ARASCO will expand its existing facilities in Dammam and Al-Kharj rather than build new facilities. This will reduce the required investment and cut the project period to less than a year.'