New mill plant aims to boost regional wheat industry

A new wheat flour mill plant is currently under construction in the Lingcheng district of Dezhou city, East China's Shandong province, as part of the district's efforts to further advance the local wheat processing industry.

China's leading agricultural and food company COFCO Group, a major investor in the project, said construction is already half complete, and the plant will go into operation early next year.

Equipped with four production lines, it will be able to process 900,000 tons of wheat and produce 650,000 tons of flour per year, meeting the staple food needs of 7.5 million people, said COFCO.

A series of support facilities, such as grain storage silos, a customer service center and a research and development center, will be set up nearby.

The project, involving an investment of nearly 1.4 billion yuan ($193 million) and covering an area of 240 mu (16 hectares), is expected to generate 2.2 billion yuan in annual sales.

Endowed with more than a million mu of arable land, Lingcheng has always been a major food producer and provided ideal conditions for the implementation of agriculture projects.

The local government said the district will continue to carry out projects concerning the procurement, storage, processing, transportation and trade of agricultural products, creating a complete industrial chain and injecting fresh impetus into local rural revitalization.

liuzizheng@chinadaily.com.cn