Tag: UAE

ADQ’s strategy to support the UAE’s agri-food ecosystem

Post author By AgReads®
Post date May 16, 2020
No Comments on ADQ’s strategy to support the UAE’s agri-food ecosystem

Abu Dhabi’s, ADQ has agreed to acquire a 50 per cent stake to buy 50% stake in agri-food specialist Al Dahra Holding. Al Dahra is a prominent multinational leader in agribusiness, specializing in the cultivation, production and trading of animal feed and essential food commodities and end-to-end supply chain management. Serving a large customer base spanning the Government and Commercial sectors, Al Dahra has a widespread geographic footprint, with a workforce of 5,000 employees, operating in over 20 countries and catering to more than 45 markets, with a leading position in Asia and the Middle East.

“Food and agri-business is of importance to ADQ’s strategy because it is high growth and important for Abu Dhabi’s socio-economic agenda. Since 1995 when Al Dahra was founded in the UAE, it has grown into a global food and animal feed company and is a pillar of Abu Dhabi and our country’s food security mandate. Al Dahra will complement our existing efforts to extend ADQ’s reach in food production and distribution. With our investment, Al Dahra will be well positioned to further expand its reach and footprint while enabling Abu Dhabi to reach its goals of continuing to diversify its food sources and growing into a regional food hub.”
H.E. Mohammed Hassan Alsuwaidi, Chief Executive Officer of ADQ

Al Dahra owns and operates 15 state-of-the-art forage processing and baling facilities globally. The company also cultivates different types of fresh produce, including a wide range of fruits and vegetables, as well as grains with infrastructure to facilitate grains’ trading. Al Dahra operates three rice mills with capacity to supply 500,000 tons annually in India, Pakistan and the UAE.

The company also owns shares in three flour mills in Greece and Bulgaria that have the capacity to supply 500,000 tons annually. Additionally, the company has an olive oil production plant in Morocco with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons, and dairy farms in Serbia and the UAE with 20,000 cows and a production capacity of 80 million liters of milk annually.

Phoenix Commodities has gone into liquidation after amassing $400m in potential trading losses

Post author By AgReads®
Post date May 14, 2020
No Comments on Phoenix Commodities has gone into liquidation after amassing $400m in potential trading losses

Phoenix Commodities, a trader of agricultural products with offices in Dubai and Singapore, is being liquidated after amassing more than US$400 million (S$567 million) in potential trading losses. It was valued at $1.1bn-$1.24bn as recently as January, according to a document filed by its provisional liquidators.. The Phoenix Group, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands, operated globally with about 100 corporate entities located in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and North America and employed over 2,500 people.

First Abu Dhabi bank reports $73.3m exposure to Phoenix Commodities. Emirates NBD, Mashreq, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were also owed millions by the company.
ArabianBusiness.com

Phoenix Commodities began as a rice trading business in 2001. Its executive chairman, Gaurav Dhawan, became the majority shareholder in 2006 and expanded its activities. It had three main divisions – agrifoods, resources (coal and metals trading) and consumer brands. Phoenix traded 12m tonnes of commodities and goods last year and claims to be one of the largest rice distribution companies in the world.

Tags Agri-Commodities, Agri-Loans, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Business Failure, Commodities, Distribution, Dubai, Rice, Singapore, Trade, UAE

Investments Trade

Abu Dhabi-based Al Dahra Holding signed a deal with Bulgaria-based AJD Agro

Post author By AgReads®
Post date May 4, 2020
No Comments on Abu Dhabi-based Al Dahra Holding signed a deal with Bulgaria-based AJD Agro

Abu Dhabi-based Al Dahra Holding has signed a deal to cultivate and supply essential crops and forage across Bulgaria. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Bulgaria-based AJD Agro and includes alfalfa and other grasses. Al Dahra previously invested in the country through Loulis Mills, the Greek-based flour miller, which acquired the largest flour mill operator in Bulgaria.

AJD Agro cultivates more than 4,000 hectares of land spread across the Lovech region and currently operates an alfalfa dehydration plant with an annual alfalfa production capacity of 20,000 metric tons.

ADIO to invest US$100 million in four global AgTech pioneers

Post author By AgReads®
Post date April 10, 2020
5 Comments on ADIO to invest US$100 million in four global AgTech pioneers

Four agriculture technology (AgTech) pioneers will build new facilities in Abu Dhabi dedicated to developing next generation agriculture in arid and desert agriculture. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office, ADIO, has partnered individually with AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RNZ and Responsive Drip Irrigation, RDI. The investment office has launched a targeted incentive programme in 2019 to accelerate the growth of the emirate’s burgeoning (AgTech) ecosystem and promote innovation that is locally relevant and globally exportable. The packages are being dispersed as part of ADIO’s AED1 billion (US$272 million) AgTech Incentive Programme, established a year ago

AeroFarms will focus on next-generation genetic phenotyping and organoleptic research while also tackling the challenges of desert agriculture from its new 8,200-sqm R&D centre in Abu Dhabi. Madar Farms, a home-grown UAE AgTech innovator, will build the world’s first commercial-scale indoor tomato farm using only LED lights in KIZAD. RDI is developing an innovative irrigation system to transform water usage in UAE agriculture and conducting research trials to increase crop yields in sandy soils and non-arable land. While locally-based company RNZ will set up a state-of-the-art R&D centre to research, formulate and commercialise ‘agri-input’ solutions that will help to grow more with less.