Investments in edible oil: $20m

Investments poured in the edible oil industry over the last four years exceed 20 million dollars and were aimed at boosting refining capacities and improving product quality, stated Viorel Zichil, chairman of the Edible Oil Industry Employers’ Association (Ulprod). “The most significant investments were made by Argus Constanta (6 million dollars), Ultex tandarei (4 million dollars), Ulerom Vaslui (3 million dollars) and Expur Urziceni (400,000 dollars), with the necessary financing secured from medium-term credits granted by Romanian banks,” Zichil added. Ulprod chairman said there were 15 operational edible oil plants at the moment, as compared to 17 in 1989, with annual processing capacities reaching about 1.3 million tonnes of sun flower and 240,000 tonnes of soybean. “The plants are not operating at full capacity because domestic demand is going down. As a matter of fact, consumption from domestic production shrank by about 8% compared to last year, mainly due to population’s lower purchasing power and to cheap imports from the Republic of Moldova,” Zichil specified. ZF