DUBAI // Al Ghurair Foods, a producer of flour and edible oils, will open a new factory in Dubai this year and is seeking export opportunities in Indonesia and Japan. Mohammed Essa al Ghurair, a senior trader with the Dubai-based company, said the new plant, which should be able to produce 4,000 tonnes of oats a day, will open in Jebel Ali. "We are expanding into different markets," Mr al Ghurair said on the sidelines of the Gulfood conference in Dubai yesterday.
The company's expansion plans come after a tough year for most retailers. "With the nature of food we weren't affected too much, but the global crisis that has impacted us the most is from the financial aspect," Mr al Ghurair said. "You tend to see now that customers have less money, and less liquidity available in the market." Mr al Ghurair said the company, which has an average turnover of more than US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn), exports to 50 countries and has plants in the UAE, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, also planned a food venture in Peshawar, Pakistan, and would export more edible oil products to Indonesia and Japan to take advantage of their growing populations and cheap freight rates.
"Japan is generally an exporting country," he said. "The containers are leaving the UAE and going back to Japan, empty. That's the market dynamic and it is to our advantage." aligaya@thenational.ae