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Ref:739/03 |
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Saudi
ARABIA
- May 16, 2003 |
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Breathing life into the
desert |
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by
Suzi Fraser
Spread out between the Red Sea and the desert is an
exemplary shrimp breeding facility – and right in the
middle of it a Buhler feed manufacturing plant. Using
a new production process, it produces a specialty feed
for shrimp enabling the animals to be raised in pure
saltwater.
Sand, nothing but sand – as far as you can see. Fifty
degrees Celsius in the shade. And no possibility of
wresting anything you could eat out of the strip of
desert located directly on the shores of the Red Sea –
apart from shrimp. Hundreds of tons of them. Of top
quality, deep-frozen and packaged, destined for the
sophisticated export markets.
No drinking water consumed
The Saudi National Prawn Company raises tons of shrimp
on feed from a turnkey Buhler plant. The delicate
animals are bred in huge ponds filled with pure
saltwater that comes directly from the Red Sea. The
seawater circulates continuously between the ponds and
the sea. No drinking water is consumed. Unlike
breeding facilities in other countries that are
rightly criticized by environmentalists, this
installation requires neither the draining of mangrove
swamps nor produces any salinization of fertile soils.
The breeding ponds are as big as eight football
fields, and the animals are fed from boats. The ponds
cover an area of about 200 square kilometers – enough
space for the Principality of Liechtenstein to fit in.
A veritable city has emerged around the installation,
complete with mosque and its own energy and water
utilities. The roughly 2000 inhabitants are employees
of the National Prawn Company.
New process from Buhler
It has become possible to utilize this arid stretch of
land among other things thanks to the new feed
manufacturing process which makes the Buhler shrimp
feed plant in Saudi Arabia so unique. The process is
made up of several stages: First the raw materials are
cleaned. Then they are weighed in exact compliance
with the feed formulation by Buhler proportioning
equipment, which is known for its high precision.
After this, they are finely ground and transferred to
a high-speed mixer. Following a special cooking and
conditioning phase developed by Buhler in
collaboration with the customer, the mix is pelletized.
The feed pellets undergo final conditioning and are
then dried and vacuum-coated so they will not
contaminate the saltwater but serve entirely as feed
for the shrimp. This allows the shrimp to be raised in
pure saltwater. Finally, the finished pellets are
cooled to make them storable and then packaged.
A substantial part of the raw material costs can be
saved by this new process, the exact figure, of
course, being the business secret of the National
Prawn Company. The feed quality is even higher than
that produced by conventional processes. Moreover,
Saudi Arabia is distinguishing itself as one of the
world’s biggest operators of sustained shrimp breeding
facilities – thanks to the trend-setting feed
manufacturing process from Buhler.
Buhler is a global Technology Group and System Partner
for plant and equipment and for process expertise in
the fields of Food Processing, Chemical Engineering,
and Die Casting, with a worldwide payroll of about
6,300.
For additional information, please contact: Jürg
Solenthaler, Area Sales Manager Feed Technology, Phone
+41 71 955 30 61, Fax +41 71 955 28 96, E-mail:
juerg.solenthaler@buhlergroup.de
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