BY MICHAEL EBOH & NKIRUKA NNOROM

Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Thursday, said it plans to spend about N9.7 billion in the expansion of its milling plants across the country.

According to Mr. Emmanuel Ukpabi, Group Managing Director, Flour Mills, who spoke at its pre-Annual General Meeting media briefing in Lagos, the expansion drive would increase the company’s total milling plants to about 15 mills.

Specifically, he said that the West Mill, which will house four of the milling plants is nearing completion and would soon be commissioned.

He explained that on completion, the West Mill would have a milling capacity of 2,750 metric tonnes per day, while the combined plants across the nation would boast of 18,500 metric tonnes of flour per day, adding that the expansion would consolidate the company’s position as second largest flour producing entity in the world.

According to him, the mills would run for 24 hours in a day and undergo maintenance service for period of eight hours every week.

He assured that in continuation of the company’s commitment to quality consistency in all its products, it made further investments in high-tech quality laboratory equipment, upgrading its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities accordingly.

“Our millers and quality assurance personnel continue to attend courses in the USA, Europe and South Africa for improved skills and exposure to modern technology.

“In order to formalise our commitment to product quality assurance, we have commenced the process of seeking accreditation to the quality standard ISO 9001:2008. This will help set a benchmark to measure our performance against best global practice within the flour milling industry,” he said.

Lamenting the impact of negative operating environment on flour milling businesses in Nigeria, Ukpabi said that government’s new policy on wheat importation which requires milling companies to pay 15 per cent levy and 10 per cent duty on imported wheat, as well as infrastructural decay were hampering activity not just for the company, but for the entire industry.

He also listed the challenges facing the company to include poor power supply and bad road network, saying that it was their expectation that government would make do its promise of improving services in those two areas.

While also explaining the impact of increased competition on their brand, he said that the government’s new policy on compulsory inclusion of cassava in their range of product was yet another challenge as it would require putting more infrastructure in place to aid smooth take off.