CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES
Small producers face difficulties in the highly competitive world market for animal feeds
Calcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate are important mineral components of livestock and poultry feed. They are in demand all over the world. There are three major producers in Tunisia, including our partner company Mediterranean Feed Industry (MFI). But the world market is highly competitive, and companies are under pressure to expand their product range.
MFI, whose production has so far been based on calcium phosphate, wants to remain competitive and enter new sales markets. But the production facilities are outdated, and so far, MFI does not have a plant to produce dicalcium phosphate, which is also in high demand. If the company were able to offer both products from a single source, it could increase its competitiveness. This is because international customers want to keep the number of suppliers as low as possible in order to reduce costs, time, and logistics efforts. In addition, the production of calcium phosphate is very energy-intensive, which places a heavy burden on manufacturers against a backdrop of rising energy prices.
PROJECT APPROACH AND PROJECT GOALS
Two new production lines are under construction
With its international sales, MFI is one of the most important exporting companies in Tunisia. The most important target markets are Algeria, Great Britain, Italy, and Egypt. In some countries, for example Algeria, the company is the market leader in calcium phosphate. Great Britain, Italy and Egypt are also important customers. As part of the investment project, the company wants to expand production and diversify its range of products. To this end, the company will complete a production line for dicalcium phosphate that is already under construction and will build an additional production line for calcium phosphate at the Gabès site. The company will also get support for the completion of Some of the necessary components are to be imported from Sweden. MFI is also investing in a dust removal unit to ensure the safety and environmental compatibility of production.
STATUS AND OUTLOOK
New jobs in the company and with service providers
In an industry where size matters, MFI wants to gain market share and retain key customers. The expansion of production and of storage capacities is intended to avoid bottlenecks that can arise when there is a delay in the delivery of raw materials. Diversification should make it possible to find new customers, for example in Saudi Arabia and South America.
As part of these investments, MFI will create 87 new jobs in production as well as in administration and management. There will be training opportunities for about a third of the new employees. It is expected that contractors such as transport and maintenance companies will be able to create 60 more jobs at the Gabès site.
Through the new production facilities and investments in staff training, MFI aims to remain competitive in the long term, increase its production volume and create jobs in Tunisia. To this end, MFI plans to invest a total of 4.37 million euros. The Facility Investing for Employment GmbH grants a subsidy of 1.04 million euros (24%). The funds will be used to co-finance the acquisition of the new production facilities and the dust removal unit.
The Facility Investing for Employment (IFE) of KfW Development Bank is part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). With its support, the facility wants to remove barriers that prevent the creation of new and better jobs in the private sector.
