MOROCCO – Alapala, one of the leading brands in flour milling equipment and mill projects, has partnered with Forafric Maroc, a fully-owned subsidiary of Forafric Global PLC, to increase its wheat and durum processing capacity through the expansion and creation of new mills.
Forafric is an industrial group specialized in milling industry with a complete range of flour and semolina, and secondary processing products such as pasta and couscous.
The two partners have agreed on expanding three of its existing mills in Morocco as well as building three new mills at a total cost estimated at MAD 1 billion (US$99.5 million).
The investment, according to Morocco World News, includes the purchasing of equipment, and the recruitment of human capital.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Forafric Maroc on its program to enter a new market and significantly increase its production output… to further develop the milling industry in Morocco,” said Gorkem Alapala, Vice Chairman of the Board of Alapala Group.
The expansion of the Forafic operations in the North African country is forecasted to increase the company’s daily wheat and durum processing capacity to 2,370 metric tonnes over the next 30 months, up from the current daily capacity of 420 metric tonnes.
Commenting on the partnership, Mustapha Jamal Eddine, Forafric Maroc CEO, said his company has improved its processes, lowered its costs, and increased market penetration throughout the past four years.
“Teaming with Alapala will enable us to significantly increase output and take our business to the next level as well as help us to further lower our cost basis and provides an entry into the dynamic Moroccan market,” he added.
With Forafric Maroc aspiring to extend its operations across Morocco, the North African country has worked on diversifying its wheat supply sources amid a cut of supply from its second and third-largest wheat exporters, Ukraine and Russia.
Faced with drought and war in Ukraine, Morocco had to look for other wheat suppliers such as Brazil and Argentina to meet local demands.
The country ordered food supplies from 15 countries in the first half of the current season, the Moroccan Minister of Agriculture recently revealed, noting that Brazil and Argentina contributed to 41% of Moroccan food imports in February.
Other projects Alapala has recently been involved in at the Maghreb Kingdom include installation of a new flour mill reference at Flour Mills company in 2020.
It has a processing capacity of 300 tonnes per day, processing local semi-hard wheat and three different variants of bakery flour mainly for domestic consumption.
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