UAE’s Essa Al Ghurair Investment may bid for Saudi mills

The Dubai-based Essa Al Ghurair Investment Co. is considering bidding for four mills in Saudi Arabia which are in the process of being privatized, the company’s chairman Essa Al Ghurair told Bloomberg.

The purchase could take place within the next two years, he said, adding that it would not be “difficult to adapt to the Saudi environment.”

The company has investments in flour mills within Oman and Lebanon. Essa Al Ghurair is also chairman of Al Ghurair Resources, the agricultural arm of Al Ghurair Investment, one of the country’s most prominent family-owned conglomerates.

The Saudi cabinet has recently approved forming four joint stock milling companies under the supervision of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization, according to a report published by Argaam.

Saudi Arabia’s nine flour mills have a daily milling capacity of 12,630 tons of wheat, and process about 3.3 million tons of wheat a year.

The country will mostly rely on wheat imports as of next year, as wheat farms have recently halted production as part of a government led effort.