May 11th 2023
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.
At Austria’s only potato starch mill in Gmünd, 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.
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.
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.
Source: https://www.agrana.com/en/pr/all-press-releases/news-detail/agrana-erweitert-produktionskapazitaeten-fuer-technische-staerken-und-investiert-am-standort-gmuend-23-mio-euro