Kizad to serve as logistics hub for rice distribution

November 29, 2015 

Abu Dhabi, UAE:  Abu Dhabi Ports―the master developer, operator and manager of ports and industrial zones in the Emirate - and Al Dahra Agriculture LLC, a leading international agribusiness company, have celebrated the ground breaking of their rice milling, storage and distribution plant's 'silos' at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).

The building structure of the overall Al Dahra Kohinoor facility is well underway and has entered the next phase of construction - that related to the structures for rice grain storage or silos.

The ground breaking ceremony took place on their 100,106-square metres project site in attendance of senior officials from both companies as well as representatives from the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority and Abu Dhabi Food Security.

This AED 140 million facility, currently the first of its kind and set to be the largest rice mill factory in the Gulf region, will contribute to the realisation of UAE long-term food security vision.

Al Dahra Kohinoor LLC, a joint venture of Al Dahra Holding of Abu Dhabi and Kohinoor Foods of India, will produce up to 80,000 (eighty thousand) metric tonnes of rice per annum. The facility will be handling the full production cycle from milling, storing, packing and distributing the rice within the UAE and exporting to foreign markets via Khalifa Port.

Abu Dhabi's food security vision is to design short and long term strategies that would secure availability, accessibility and affordability of food supplies.

"Currently, we rely on imports for as much as 85% of the country's food consumption. Abu Dhabi Ports is also trying to contribute to the UAE leadership's long-term objective of achieving the maximum self-reliance in food production," said Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports.

"Our role at Abu Dhabi Ports is to support the food industry and businesses such as Al Dahra Kohinoor in their efforts to source food-produce locally. Our integrated infrastructure and connectivity offerings of Khalifa Port and Kizad provide both the availability to support food projects and the accessibility to have their products reach consumers both locally and abroad," he continued.

H.E. Khadim Abdulla Al Darei, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Al Dahra Holding LLC was pleased with the construction progress of the project, "Al Dahra Kohinoor facility will ensure the sustainable and undisrupted supply of essential food commodities into the Emirate and we are eager to launch operations by the second quarter of 2016."

"This facility in Kizad will act as a logistics hub for rice distribution across the GCC allowing us to expand our efforts in offering quality and variety of rice at sustainable and affordable prices to consumers," H.E. added.

Al Dahra Kohinoor facility will not only have the abilities to produce and store 50,000 metric tonnes of strategic rice reserve; fulfilling the company's commitments to the UAE Food Security Centre, but also it will contribute to the enhancement of rice milling expertise and capabilities in Abu Dhabi, by creating 90 jobs in the first phase.

-Ends-

About Abu Dhabi Ports
Established in 2006, Abu Dhabi Ports' core objective is to facilitate the diversification of the economy by stimulating trade and development. This is done by delivering high quality maritime services, supporting partners' infrastructure projects and setting up new companies and joint ventures in the ports and logistics sectors.

The flagship state-of-the -art Khalifa Port and Khalifa Industrial Zone play a big role, supporting the diversification of the economy.  Khalifa Port was inaugurated on 12/12/12 by UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The port's semi-automated container terminal handles all of Abu Dhabi's container traffic, after its transfer from Zayed Port, the historic port in the city centre.

Phase One of Khalifa Port has a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs and 12 million tonnes of general cargo. Further phases of development will occur as market demand requires. When all phases are complete, Khalifa Port will be able to handle 15 million TEUs and 35 million tonnes of general cargo per year.

Abu Dhabi Ports manages nine commercial, logistics, community and leisure ports, and Khalifa Industrial Zone which is serving a range of logistics and manufacturing investors. Abu Dhabi Ports is boosting Abu Dhabi's economic growth and diversification, following Abu Dhabi's Economic Vision 2030.

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About Aldahra Agriculture
"Al Dahra is a prominent leader in the agribusiness; specializing in the cultivation, production and trading of animal feed and essential human food commodities such as rice, flour, fruits and vegetables. Since its inception, Al Dahra has witnessed unmatched growth fuelled by an active foreign investment strategy, establishing various acquisitions and joint ventures with specialized feed and food producers worldwide. The group owns and operates a large asset base including a land bank of 200 thousand acres, 8 forage pressing and production plants, 4 rice milling plants and 2 flour milling plants."

© Press Release 2015