ONE OF the UK's major traders of grains and animal feed raw materials, Cefetra Ltd, has acquired two grain stores in Scotland at a cost in excess of £7 million.

One of the grain stores, at Ormiston in East Lothian, has a capacity of circa 80,000 tonnes, whilst the other, at Charlesfield in Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, can hold circa 60,000 tonnes.

The company, which is headquartered in Glasgow, has an annual turnover in excess of £1 billion supplying customers in the animal nutrition, food and drink industries.

“By making such a significant investment we have taken the next step in further strengthening our grain origination business,” said managing director Andrew Mackay. “It also demonstrates our long-term commitment to supporting both the farming community and our established customers across Scotland and Northern England.

“These grain handling, processing and storage facilities, with drying, cleaning and grain analysis operations, give us the infrastucture required to operate in key grain production areas of Scotland. They allow us to work with and support farmers, whilst also enabling us to supply quality grains, oilseeds and pulses to key customers in Scotland and Northern England.”

Read more: Cefetra plans Scottish expansion with Forth Ports

Cefetra has a network of over 40 storage sites across the UK and Ireland from which it dispatches between 85,000 to 90,000 tonnes of raw materials to industry partners every week, delivering in the region of 600 lorry loads per day. Altogether, it now has over one million tonnes of storage capacity.

Mr Mackay said: “With our efficient supply chains and logistics, alongside our strategically selected storage facilities, and an excellent network of farmer growers and suppliers, we are ideally positioned to meet the requirements of our customers."

He added: “We are well aware of the challenges that farmers face in today’s volatile market but by working together, we can support and help manage their market strategies to help generate strong returns. As their supply chain manager, we provide a secure connection between the farmers’ business and the end consumer."