EANS-News: ? 100 million investment: AGRANA opens second wheat starch plant at site in Pischelsdorf (Lower Austria) - IMAGE

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Plant Openings

Vienna - The fruit, starch and sugar group AGRANA has constructed a second wheat
starch processing plant at the site of its organic ethanol refinery in
Pischelsdorf, in the Tullnerfeld region, which was ceremoniously opened today by
the provincial governor of Lower Austria, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, and its
Supervisory Board Chairman Erwin Hameseder. By means of this expansion project,
AGRANA is effectively doubling its wheat starch production capacity and
increasing the number of jobs by 45 to a total of 250.

"After already investing EUR 200 million in the organic bioethanol plant and the
first wheat starch production facility, we have now invested a further EUR 100
million in this second wheat starch processing plant. By doing so, AGRANA is
responding to rising demand, particularly from the paper industry as a result of
the growing need for packaging materials in connection with the online mail
order segment. The increase in the overall processing capacity, from around
800,000 tonnes at present to 1.2 million tonnes of wheat, means that
Pischelsdorf is taking on a leading position among large European starch
production sites," highlights AGRANA CEO Johann Marihart.

The expanded wheat starch facility will annually process around 650,000 tonnes
of wheat to produce 260,000 tonnes of wheat starch, 50,000 tonnes of wheat
gluten, 100,000 tonnes of wheat gluten feed and 35,000 tonnes of wheat bran.
Wheat starch is used, on the one hand, in a variety of technical applications
(particularly in the paper industry) and, on the other, in the food industry,
e.g. in the production of noodles, bread and other bakery products. Wheat gluten
is mainly employed in the bakery products sector or in the manufacture of pet
food products as well as in fish food. Like wheat gluten feed, wheat bran is
also used as animal feed. As a whole, AGRANA processes the commodities corn,
potatoes and wheat to make starches at five production sites in Europe and sells
1.8 million tonnes of starch-based products to 2,000 customers worldwide
operating in over 20 different sectors.

The Pischelsdorf site also houses a bioethanol facility in addition to its wheat
starch plant. The close integration of both plants enables the cereals processed
to be utilised to an extent of 100%. After extracting wheat starch and gluten,
the remaining unutilised fractions of the raw materials are used in the
production of bioethanol and the GMO-free, protein-rich animal feed ActiProt.
This product substitutes approximately 200,000 tonnes of the EU's annual imports
of genetically-modified soya grits from overseas. Taking into account the high-
purity CO2, which is extracted from the fermentation tanks of the bioethanol
plant and liquefied by the industrial gas company Air Liquide, several top-
quality products are manufactured from a single commodity. "We are proud of the
organic refinery concept we have implemented here in Pischelsdorf. In the
interests of an organic economy and a closed economic cycle, all the components
of the cereals are used efficiently here. Pischelsdorf is without doubt a
paragon of total resource utilisation and a shining example of a practically
closed economic cycle.

About AGRANA
AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and numerous
industrial intermediate products. Around 9,600 employees at 57 production sites
worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately EUR 2.4 billion.
Established in 1988, the company is the world's market leader in fruit
preparations and the leading producer of fruit juice concentrates in Europe. In
addition, its Starch segment is also a major manufacturer of custom starch
products and bioethanol. AGRANA is also the leading sugar producer in Central
and Eastern Europe.

This announcement is available in German and English at www.agrana.com/en
[https://www.agrana.com/en/media/]

Further inquiry note:
AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG

Mag.(FH) Hannes Haider
Investor Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12905
e-mail:hannes.haider@agrana.com

Mag.(FH) Markus Simak
Public Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084
e-mail: markus.simak@agrana.com

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Pictures with Announcement:
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_Pischelsdorf.jpg

issuer: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
F.-W.-Raiffeisen-Platz 1
A-1020 Wien
phone: +43-1-21137-0
FAX: +43-1-21137-12926
mail: info.ab@agrana.com
WWW: www.agrana.com
ISIN: AT000AGRANA3
indexes: WBI
stockmarkets: Berlin, Stuttgart, Wien, Frankfurt
language: English

Additional content: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/63352/4449607
OTS: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
ISIN: AT0000603709

Original-Content von: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell