Turkey invests $20m in Romanian chicken

Banvit, Turkey’s leading fowl producer is planning to invest $20 million in a production and distribution chain on the Romanian market, Anatolia news agency was quoted as reporting by Turkish Daily News.
Omer Gorener, Banvit general manager specified investments would be made only after the completion of the feasibility study. Besides Romania, the Turkish company has announced it is planning to invest another two million dollars in Germany.
The company representatives did not care to provide any further details.
“The exact location of the investment is confidential for the time being. We will be able to tell you more as soon as the project is completed,” Seyfi Franco, member of Banvit’s export department told Ziarul Financiar.
The Turkish company has been operating in Romania since 1999 through Banvit Aliment Romania SRL ($50,000 in share capital). News run by the Turkish daily Star at the time showed Banvit management was determined to open a factory in Romania.
“This is a very well-known company in the industry. As far as I know, the people at Banvit came and researched the market three years ago. They came two years ago, as well and they were here again last year. They’ve been extensively probing the market so they have probably come to a serious decision. Just that I did not know of any such investment until now,” Ilie Van, president of the Romanian Association of Poultry Producers told Ziarul Financiar.
The representatives of the Romanian company did not provide any further details about the investment planned. Banvit Aliment Romania is currently engaged in cereal trade, supplying raw material to the company in Turkey. The company has several integrated plants in Turkey, the business of which range from chicken breeding to frozen foods.
The Turkish Group was established in 1968 and floated 15% of its shares on the Istanbul Bourse in 1992. Banvit logged $6.3 million loss in 2001, while turnover reached more than $115 million. Banvit’s nine-month revenues last year were in excess of $80 million and profit peaked above $1 million.
Besides the distribution network that covers the entire Turkey, the company exports to Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Kosovo, Cyprus (northern area), Hong Kong, China and Georgia.
Banvit owns the largest meat productive facility in Turkey. It also operates two separate turkey and chicken processing lines at its Izmir-based production centre and makes semi-foods, charcuterie products, kebab and burger meat.