Products
The annual volume of production and its sales in the following areas: commercial potatoes – 10,000 tonnes/year, seed potatoes – 4,000 tonnes/year, French fries – 2,400 tonnes/year.
Project
This investment project (the "Project") envisages the growing and processing of elite seed potatoes in Stepnogorsk. Product processing provides for peeling potatoes on a potato washing line. Potatoes of the first and second reproduction and those that do not meet the interstate standards of seed potatoes, will be sold for commercial purposes.
Company
The initiator of the Project is BioProm Technologies LLP. The main activity of the Company is related to the production and cultivation of elite seed potatoes. Between 2018 and 2020 The company worked on research and production tests with the Dutch company Farm Frites Beheer BV, in cooperation with which 860 tons of superelite and elite varieties were grown on order.
Market
- The potato is the third most consumed food crop in the world, after rice and wheat. The volume of world potato production was 359 million tons in 2020.
- In Kazakhstan, the gross potato harvest in 2021 amounted to 4 million tons, while the adjusted sown area was 196 thousand hectares. The yield was at the level of 207 q/ha. The impact of drought has been minimal as all potatoes are grown on irrigated land.
- In Kazakhstan, potato production has been continuously increasing since 2017 with an average annual growth rate of 3.2%, reaching 4 million tons in 2021. Potato consumption in the country was 3 million tons in 2021.
The attractiveness of the project
- Experience in agricultural activities. The company specialises in the cultivation of elite potato seeds and has six years of experience in the agriculture and seed production.
- Project location. The production location region is distinguished by an extensive road transport and logistics infrastructure, which allows minimizing both the time and costs for the delivery of finished products to large cities of Kazakhstan and the border regions of Russia.
- Import substitution. Due to the lack of highly productive locally bred potato seeds, the dependence of the Kazakhstan market on imported seeds has increased. These seeds are often characterized by a high price and poor quality, which is one of the reasons for the low erratic yield. The solution to this situation is the creation of a system of practical seed production for growing elite seed potatoes in Kazakhstan.
The Project requires financing of US$ 11,044 thousand, of which:
- 80% (US$ 8,835 thousand) – debt financing subject to collateral;
- from 20% (US$ 2,209 thousand) – Investor participation.
