CAIRO, EGYPT — A group of three Egyptian entities has ordered 23 grain handling facilities to be built for a cost of around $100 million. The project is the largest that Thisted, Denmark-based A/S Cimbria has secured in the company’s history.

Of the 23 plants being delivered, Cimbria will be erecting 12 facilities for the government-owned Egyptian Holding Company for Silo Storage, which will primarily be used as buffer and intermediate storage facilities for imported wheat. Ten facilities are due to be erected for the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation at various locations throughout the country, to which farmers can sell and deliver locally produced grain. The final facility is to be delivered to North Cairo Flour Mills Co.

Each of the 23 plants has a silo capacity of 60,000 tonnes, including conveying and cleaning facilities with a capacity of 200 tph. Total silo capacity will thus amount to 1.38 million tonnes. Geographically, the locations of the 23 plants stretch from the Mediterranean Sea and Suez all the way down to Aswan, in addition to a plant at an oasis 600 km west of Aswan.

The order comprises project design and engineering, calculation of steel structures, supply of conveying equipment, cleaners, laboratory equipment, silos, electronic control units featuring SCADA/PLC, sufficient spare parts for 3 years of operation and delivery to Egypt. The project also includes supervision of the installation of equipment and electrical systems at the 23 facilities. Following installation, Cimbria will embark on a training program in which Egyptian employees at each plant will receive instruction in operation and maintenance. Final capacity testing will also be performed prior to handing over the many new plants.

Cimbria has negotiated the framework terms and conditions for the 23 plants with the Egyptian authorities, with erection work taking place in close contractual collaboration with various Egyptian construction companies.

Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat and has an annual import of 17 million tonnes of different grain products. Furthermore, local production takes place on 4% of Egypt’s rural land, primarily in the Nile Delta and areas along the Nile down to the Sudanese border, corresponding to a total production of 23 million tonnes of a range of different grain products.

Cimbria said that the last 25 years have seen it delivering an almost uninterrupted sequence of grain facilities to Egypt, with more than 40 reference plants having been completed to the satisfaction of customers. The company said these reference plants have proved to be invaluable in connection with negotiations to secure this gigantic new order. Since 2012, Cimbria has had its own sales office in Egypt.

Cimbria’s noted that its solutions within silo plants are recognized for their ability to ensure the highest possible utilization of essential grain crops, as well as minimizing losses — a crucial factor, since much of the locally produced grain is stored in open outdoor sack storage facilities, with enormous losses as a consequence.

Cimbria’s project department has a staff of 150 employees who are responsible for a range of functions, including project design and engineering, assembly and delivery of the plants. Project design and production of the many plants has already commenced at Cimbria’s factories, and the complete shipment from Thisted to Egypt will eventually fill around 500 40-foot containers packed with equipment and 800 containers with round steel silos. Delivery has already begun and will continue until spring 2016. Supervision of installation, training and commissioning is a huge task in itself, and Cimbria is planning to have employees stationed in Egypt for an extended period.