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Wien (euro adhoc) - The AGRANA bioethanol plant in Pischelsdorf|Lower Austria
has now been officially opened following a start-up phase spanning several
weeks. This facility meets the admixture targets for bioethanol based on locally
grown raw materials for the Austrian market. When calculated, taking the entire
product life cycle into consideration, the bioethanol produced at the
Pischelsdorf plant generates savings in CO2 emissions equivalent to 380,000
tonnes per year.
At the opening ceremony, Environment Minister Josef Pröll highlighted the
important role played by the plant in improving Austria´s climate balance given
that every litre of bioethanol represents a saving of around 50% in terms of CO2
emissions when compared to petrol. In addition, the Pischelsdorf plant can also
annually produce up to 190,000 tonnes of the premium quality, protein-rich,
animal feed "ActiProt" with which imports of soya-based animal feed can be
replaced. "Bioethanol from Austria therefore makes both perfect environmental
and economic sense," remarked Pröll at the opening ceremony which was also
attended by Ernst Karpfinger, President of the Austrian Beet Growers´
Association, the co-owner of the plant, Christian Konrad, General Counsel of
Raiffeisen and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AGRANA, Erwin Hameseder,
General Director of Raiffeisenlandesbank and a member of the Supervisory Board
of AGRANA, Provincial Member of Parliament, Josef Plank, and the President of
the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture and a Member of Parliament, Hermann
Schultes.
The Pischelsdorf facility was constructed following the investment of around EUR
125 million and currently employs 69 personnel. Up to 620,000 tonnes of raw
materials, mainly wheat, corn and concentrated sugar beet juice, will be
processed each year to produce up to 240,000 m³ of bioethanol. The maximum
consumption of raw materials will be less than Austria´s average export volume
of cereals. The Pischelsdorf plant will also replace the import of around
100,000 tonnes of crude oil equivalents and approximately 130,000 tonnes of
Austria´s soya-based feed imports.
AGRANA´s Chief Executive Officer, Johann Marihart: "Our plant in Pischelsdorf
largely meets its raw material requirements from Austrian farming land, a
proportion of which is former fallow land which, since 2008, can now be
re-planted following the suspension of the EU Commission´s 10% set-aside scheme.
Given a forecast surplus of around 30 million tonnes of cereals in the EU,
bioethanol is an important market."
This press release is available online in German and English at www.agrana.com.
Further inquiry note:
AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
Mag. Maria Fally
Investor Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12905
e-mail:maria.fally@agrana.com
Mag. Ulrike Pichler
Public Relations
Tel.: +43-1-211 37-12084
e-mail:ulrike.pichler@agrana.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
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emitter: AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
Donau-City-Straße 9
A-1220 Wien
phone: +43-1-21137-0
FAX: +43-1-21137-12045
mail: info.ab@agrana.com
WWW: www.agrana.com
sector: Food
ISIN: AT0000603709
indexes: WBI, ATX Prime
stockmarkets: Präsenzhandel: Börse Berlin, Börse Frankfurt, Börse Stuttgart,
official market: Wiener Börse AG
language: English
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