AGRANA expands production capacity for technical starches and invests € 23 million at Gmünd site

This year, the fruit, starch and sugar group AGRANA is starting with the construction of an additional drum drying plant at the site of its potato starch mill in Gmünd (Waldviertel District of Lower Austria). With an investment volume of € 23 million, AGRANA aims to boost the production of technical special starches for the construction and adhesive sectors. The plan is to complete the new plant in July 2025 and, as a result, increase the production capacity of technical starches by a third.

“Due to legal requirements, technical sectors are increasingly relying on organic materials and, therefore, selecting starches as a sustainable alternative to oil-based products. The expansion of our facility is in response to this rising demand and safeguards the competitiveness of the Gmünd site,” stresses Norbert Harringer, CTO of AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG. In Europe, AGRANA is the market leader in both technical and organic starches.

About AGRANA Gmünd

At Austria’s only potato starch mill, with a workforce of around 420 AGRANA manufactures both starches for the food sector as well as starches for technical applications, such as in the construction, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries. The facility in Gmünd also processes organic potatoes to make organic starches, organic sweeteners and organic long-life potato products, such as purées, potato dough mixes and infant formula. In total, AGRANA manufactures over 300 different starch products at its mill in Gmünd.

About AGRANA Starch

With a total of five mills, of which three are located in Austria, in Aschach/Donau, Gmünd and Pischelsdorf, and a further two in Szabadegyhaza (Hungary) and Tandarei (Romania), AGRANA has established itself as a specialist for customised starch applications.

Technical starches in the construction material and adhesives sectors

In the construction chemicals sector, starches from AGRANA provide for the right consistency not only with starch ether for gypsum and slaked lime but also in cement and slaked cement construction materials. Due to their excellent adhesive properties, AGRANA starches are used in the adhesives industry as an alternative to synthetic adhesives and are referred to as green glues.

About AGRANA

AGRANA converts agricultural raw materials into high-quality foods and numerous industrial intermediate products. Around 9,000 employees at 55 production facilities worldwide generate annual Group revenue of approximately € 3.6 billion. The Group was founded in 1988, is the global leader in fruit preparations and also a major producer of fruit juice concentrates in Europe as well as being a key manufacturer of customised potato, corn and wheat starch products in addition to organic ethanol in its Starch segment. AGRANA is one of the leading sugar companies in Central and Eastern Europe.

For queries, please contact:

Markus Simak
Public Relations
+43 1 21137 12084
markus.simak@agrana.com

Hannes Haider
Investor Relations
+43 1 21137 12905
hannes.haider@agrana.com

 

This press release is available in German and English at www.agrana.com.