ZAD Holding Company is in the process of expanding the capacity of its flour mill by 70 metric tonnes per day by June 2017 to bring the company’s total milling capacity by around 890 mtpd, an official has announced.
In his report to shareholders during the company’s annual general meeting yesterday at the Sharq Village & Spa, managing director Sheikh Nawaf bin Mohamed bin Jabor al-Thani also said the company is in the process of building a cold storage facility at the Industrial Area slated to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the meeting, ZAD Holding CEO Tarique Mohamed said the company plans to build another cold storage facility at Manateq’s Um Alhoul Special Economic Zone near the Hamad Port.
“Our cold storage facility at the Industrial Area is expected to be completed by the end of the year but the other facility in Um Alhoul is still going through the necessary approval process,” he pointed out.
Asked about expansion plans at the Hamad Port, he said, “We are still waiting for the land allocation and once that is done, we are ready with our plans to start construction at Hamad Port.
“It would certainly enable us to export in bulk although most of our export markets are via land routes. But infrastructure wise, it would be a bigger port and we could bring in bigger ships for the raw materials, so there would be advantage on the freight side.”
For export operations, Mohamed said, ZAD Holding has been exporting flour “some two to three years back just to test the market abroad.” 
“To get a larger share of markets abroad, you still need to create the awareness for the brand, but we are trying to get into the Saudi Arabia and UAE markets,” he said, adding that for Qatar, the company “is fully satisfying the market.”
Sheikh Nawaf also reported that net profit increased by 4.55% from QR160.3mn in 2015 to QR167.6mn last year, while earning per share increased from QR7.44 to QR7.78 per share over the previous year.
“Further, as per the resolution passed in the company’s AGM in 2008, the company has provided QR13.47mn for Zakat in 2016,” Sheikh Nawaf also announced during the meeting, which approved the board’s recommendation to distribute 45% cash dividends to company shareholders.
“The company continues to keep an eye on the changing dynamics of the economic situation and study the demand and supply in the market for all its products and services to make necessary arrangements and be prepared to cater to the market,” he said.


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