Agreement to boost food security and the agricultural sector in Oman
SOHAR Port and Freezone have signed an agreement with Sohar Flour Mills (SFM) for the lease of a 10-hectare plot within the Port area for the construction and management of 12 grain storage silos, each with a storage capacity of 13,000 tonnes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sohar Flour Mill will also oversee the construction and development of a new agro bulk terminal and deep water berth which will be dedicated to handling the rapidly growing volumes of agro commodities moving through SOHAR Port.
The Sub-Usufruct Agreement (SUA) was recently endorsed at a ceremony held at SOHAR Port and Freezone offices. Signing the agreement on behalf of SOHAR was the CEO, Mark Geilenkirchen and Deputy CEO, Jamal Aziz; while Sohar Flour Mills were represented by Khamis Abdullah Al Farsi, the Chairman of the Board, and Ali Habaj, Director.
“Enhancing the nation’s food security has been a matter of great focus for the government in recent years. Aligning with Oman’s National Food Security Strategy, we moved to set up a dedicated ‘Food Cluster’ within SOHAR, which essentially forms the basis for an entire up-stream and down-stream food production, packaging and distribution eco-system,” noted Geilenkirchen.
In its first phase, the facility will have a wheat milling capacity of 550 metric tonnes per day with a potential to expand to 2000 metric tonnes per day in later phases.
“Oman’s first Agro bulk terminal at the port will be dedicated to the import and export of agricultural bulk – wheat, rice, barley, and other grains, and will be able to load and unload grain at a rate of 600 tonnes an hour,” observed Al Farsi.
