July 24, 2014
Astral's seventh feed mill launched in South Africa
Astral Foods launched the 7th feed mill the company operates in South Africa – Meadow poultry feed mill witha monthly capacity of40,000 tonnes, in Standerton, Mpumalanga.
The US$19-million Standerton poultry feed mill has a capacity of 80 tonnes per hour or 40,000 tonens per month and has been designed and built with ample spare capacity to facilitate expansion of the poultry business in the Standerton region in the future. The company currently produces 1.3 million tonnes of animal feed a year.
Feed production will commence in August 2014. The feed mill plans to produce 28,000 tonnes by October (representing 70% capacity utilisation).
Astral is South Africa's largest producer of chicks in South Africa and the second largest in terms of the chicken processed.
Gary Arnold, director of business development at Astral Foods, said the new feed mill was located in Standerton due to its close proximity to the company's poultry farms in the region. Standerton is also in the centre of the corn and soy growing region.
"The new mill makes use of the latest technology and is more energy efficient compared to the older feed mills in South Africa. It will reduce the cost of producing poultry feed due to the lower labour requirements and efficient cost production," added Arnold.