Grain Silos posts SR921.5m surplus

The General Organization for Grain Silos and Flourmills (GOGSF) posted a surplus of SR921.5 million in 2010, the organization said in a report. The figure is 30 percent more than the surplus (SR709 million) it made in 2009, the report added. The organization's flour sales rose 128 percent from 0.95 million tons in 1990 to 2.18 million in 2010 with an average annual growth of 6.4 percent. The organization's annual budget declined by 16.8 percent from SR3.58 billion in 2009 to SR2.98 billion in 2010, the report pointed out. The report estimated the organization's 2010 expenditure at SR2.82 billion against SR2.69 billion in the previous year. "The organization currently maintains a precautionary wheat reserve to meet consumer requirements for six months," the report said. "After completing expansion projects, this storage capacity will be increased to meet requirements of a year," it added. Three storage facilities are being constructed at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, Yanbu Commercial Port and Dhuba Port with a total capacity of 360,000 tons. Present capacity of grain silos in the Kingdom is estimated at 2.52 million metric tons while the total daily production capacity of flour mills is 11,280 tons of flour and 2,100 tons of fodder. The organization's fodder production reached 301,000 tons in 2010 with an increase of 51,000 tons compared to the previous year's output. A new grain silos in being constructed in Jamoom in the Makkah province with a capacity of 250,000 tons, the report said, adding that the project includes a flourmill with a daily capacity of 1,200 tons of wheat. "The total amount of wheat imported from foreign markets rose from 305,000 tons in 2008 to 1.95 million tons in 2010, the report said.