Toepfer will thus get control over half the grain elevator storage capacity in Giurgiu county, one of the strategic points for grain shipping by the Danube.
The trader owns a 16,000-ton grain elevator in Giurgiu city built in the 1940s.
“We issued construction permits for the expansion of the elevator a year ago,” said Silvia Cornoiu, who works for the Giurgiu city planning department.
The investment made by Toepfer, which is one of the lowest-profile companies in Romania, will add several metallic silos next to the old one. The storage capacity will thus increase by 20,000 tons, market sources say.
Market data show such an investment amounts to about EUR5 million.
The Agriculture Ministry, however, says it does not have any information about such plans by a grain trader, while Alfred C. Toepfer officials decline comment.
The trader owns another silo in Giurgiu county, whose capacity stands at 30,000 tons, according to Agriculture Ministry data.
Once the investment in Giurgiu has been completed, the trader will control more than half of the grain elevator storage capacity in Giurgiu county.
The project in Giurgiu is the second greenfield investment, after the grain elevator in Moldova Noua, and is part of the plan announced by U.S. trader Archer Daniels Midland, which owns 80% in Alfred C. Toepfer, to expand its Danube River export network.
The exit to the Black Sea, a strategic point for deliveries to Northern Africa and the Middle East, where the major grain importers are, and the high agricultural production of Romania make it very attractive to multinational companies trading in agri-food products.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)