Competition for Prima

By Bandula Sirimanna

Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Ltd launches its wheat flour marketing operations tomorrow, breaking the monopoly enjoyed by Prima. Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman of Al Ghurair Group of Companies of Dubai, the main foreign investor of the joint venture project, and other officials are visiting Colombo for Monday’s launch, company officials said.

Construction work of the state-of-the–art flour mill in the Colombo Port and the installation of machinery have been completed. The new company based in Wellampitiya would be importing raw material via the Colombo Port for processing, providing a price advantage for the consumers as it would save on transport costs. Marketing analysts point out that a second player to the market would create better competition and help give a better deal to consumers.

Chief Marketing Officer of Serendib Flour Mills, Suren R.A. Abeywickrema told the Sunday Times FT that they are importing wheat flour from the US, Argentina and Australia.

Abeywickrema said that the plant will have an initial milling capacity of 1000 metric tones per day with provision to double output.Members of the Al Ghurair Group of Companies of Dubai, National Flour Mills (NFM) and Emirates Trading Agency (ETA), have invested US$53 million (Rs. 6 billion) in the joint venture.