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The Ethiopian Agro Industry Company, K & S Plc, signed a contract with the German owned Agro Industry Private Limited Company, Acazis Agro Industry, to launch an oil company for 8 million US dollars.

The raw material that is needed for the production of oil is intended to be produced on 6,000 hectares of land in the East and West Hararghe zones, Oromia region. The new partnership expects to produce 25,000 tons of ground nuts every year on the 6,000 hectares of ground to serve as raw material for the factory according to Francois Achour General Manager of Acazis Agro Industry plc.

The ground nuts can also be used by local industries. But it was also mentioned that there is a long term plan to export to China and India. But its  initial focus is on local market of Ethiopia and the exports are a long term plan when the production capacity grows.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency of Ethiopia is to set up a new enterprise on palm oil refinery at projected cost of 401.1 million Birr. The refinery is to be built with the expectation that once completed the enterprise will have an annual production of 300,000 tons, as it stated by the officials of the Agency.

The production will be equal with the annual import order of the state owned enterprise, Merchandise and Wholesale Trade Enterprise which covers 80% of the national demand currently.

The agency has invited interested parties both domestic and international, to bid in a public tender, for the construction of a crude edible oil refinery plant on the two locations allocated by the government.

The South African National Accreditation System awarded accreditation to the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute.

The accreditation is expected to enable Ethiopian leather products to gain automatic acceptability at international markets like European Union. This accreditation will translate in the increased competitiveness of Ethiopian products internationally by serving as a verification of the quality and in terms of health effects as well as the quality of the manufacturing equipments and processes said Wondu Legesse Director General of Leather Industry Development Institute.

The National Tobacco Enterprise of Ethiopia is seeking financial sources to purchase machinery able to produce 20,000 pieces of cigarette per minute at an estimated cost of around 142 million Br.

The Enterprise purchased its second machine in 2003 since it started production in 1941. Together these two machines have the capacity of producing 7,000 cigarettes per minutes it was stated by to Ayele Alebel, public relations officer of the Enterprise.

The enterprise is not able to satisfy the market demand with this production capacity currently that it covers only 62 percent of the market He added. The annual demand is around 6.5 billion pieces of cigarettes in 2012, but the company is producing only 3.7 billion sticks according to Ayele.

The Ethiopian Leather Industries Association is looking for supplier for non-iodized salt in the aftermath of a four month shortage. The Association is seeking suppliers from Yemen, India and Pakistan even though there is an estimated stock of 9 million quintals currently piled up in Afdera, where the national salt mines are to be found.

The industry is forced to look for imports after a four month delay in spite of more than adequate national production to meet the 30 thousand quintal demand over that period according to Abdissa Adunga, Secretary General of the Association.

The supply of salt to the industry was affected by a Council of Minister’s endorsed regulation to halt the sale of non-iodized salt noted Abdisa. The Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority was mandated with the task of issuing a directive to regulate the processing and sale of salt intended for industrial purposes according to the regulation.