KENYA – Seaboard-backed grain miller, Unga Group is set to commission a new 300 tonnes-a-day wheat milling plant next month, an expansion of the Eldoret facility that currently handles 250 tonnes.

According to Business Daily, the company will also install a soya meal production facility at its Nairobi plant by June next year.

Unga’s investment seeks to solidify its position in the wheat processing market while gaining a regional foothold given the increasing competition in the milling space.

“The new 300 tonnes per day wheat mill in Eldoret is scheduled for commissioning in October 2018.

The company will be installing a soya meal production facility at the Dakar Road plant during the course of the 2018/19 financial year,” the firm said in a statement.

Unga chief executive Nick Hutchinson said the new plant will help reduce expenses through efficiency and lower wage bills.

“This is a state-of-the-art machine that will be more economical to run and efficient on production, it is going to cut down on our expenses,” noted the CEO in a statement last year.

Less profitable year

The company expects a more difficult and less profitable financial year 2018/19 due to increased competition in the flour milling business.

“Any fiscal measures that will increase the cost of doing business will negatively impact performance.

The Board will continue to apply strategies to ensure best performance under the prevailing circumstances,” Unga Group said.

It competes with other wheat millers including Nairobi Flour Mills Limited, Alpha Grain Millers, Bakex Millers Limited and Bakhresa Grain Milling Kenya Ltd.

With an eye on the wheat flour market, the Soko Ugali maker Capwell Industries said it was investing about US$10 million in a new wheat flour plant.

Unga reported a profitable year ended June 2018 after discontinuation of firm’s operations in Uganda, cutting some of the losses experienced in the previous year.