Assela Malt Factory, Ethiopia is to launch another production facility to increase the company’s production capacity to 61, 000 tons, an increase of 144%.
The new addition to the factory is expected to cost 280 million birr.
The malt factory made the decision to expand due to the increasing demand for malt on the national market forcing beer factories to import malt according to Kiros Abreha General Manager of Assela Malt Factory.
It is expected that the current gap between supply and demand will narrow significantly after the expansion to the factory becomes operational noted Kiros.The expansion of Assela Malt Factory will provide a solution for the shortages experienced by existing breweries and other new ones entering the marker soon remarket Mekbeb Alemu, General Manager of Dashen brewery.
The quality of the beer produced is primarily due to the quality of the malt and breweries will not need to mix imported malt with the local variety if Assela is able to meet its production projections according to Mekbeb.
A total of 33,376 tons of malt worth 20.7 million US dollars was imported to Ethiopia primarily from European countries like Belgium, France, Germany and Holland according to Ethiopian Customs and Revenues Authority.
The construction of the expansion work on Assela Malt Factory was contracted to Afro Tsion Construction plc for 60 million birr.
Source: Addis Fortune
