Agrana begins 100m euro expansion of its Pischelsdorf site

Austrian ingredients producer Agrana has started the €100 million expansion of its Pischelsdorf facility in Lower Austria.

This investment will pay for the construction of a second wheat starch production line at the facility, increasing the site’s annual processing capacity from 800,000 tonnes to over a million tonnes.

Agrana currently employs 200 people at the site, and the company claims that the expansion will create a further 45 jobs at the facility.

As well as wheat starch production lines, the facility houses Austria’s only bioethanol facility, which produces bioethanol and animal feed products from the raw materials which are unused in the wheat and gluten extraction processes.

Agrana produces a wide range of products from wheat starch, including food ingredients, cosmetic products, starches for use in packaging materials and ‘technical starches’ for the paper industry.

Agrana CEO Johann Marihart said: “The plant expansion project will safeguard the long-term competitiveness of the Pischelsdorf site and is in response to increasing demand, particularly from the paper industry due to the growing need for packaging materials for online traders.

“We are very proud of our Pischelsdorf biorefinery. This is a shining example of total resource utilisation and plays a major role in achieving our aim of establishing a closed business cycle.”