Flour is one of the staple foods contributing to the development of Nigeria. Currently, the shares of wheat flour for bread, semolina, pasta and others, are estimated at 60 percent, 20 percent,10 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.
The base raw material for bread flour, confectionery flour and noodle flour, semolina, and pasta production is wheat, and 99 percent of the 5.67 million metric tons is imported. BUA IRS Flour has established a state-of-the-art plant in Port Harcourt, Nigeria to cater for the growing needs of its population. The market is expected to grow annually by 6.7% (Compound annual growth rate CAGR 2020-2025).
All the sugar and allied investments of BUA Group are set up to take advantage of the entire sugar production value chain. These include investments in sugar estates as well as refining capabilities.
The Group currently has 2 ultra-modern and automated mega sugar refineries (BUA Sugar Refinery, Lagos and Eastern Sugar Refinery, Port Harcourt) that utilize state-of-art equipment to refine high quality products for consumption and industrial uses. The Sugar refineries have a total combined installed refining capacity of 1,500,000 metric tonnes. BUA is the only sugar refiner to have refining capabilities outside Lagos, Nigeria.
As a response to Nigeria’s backward integration policy in the Sugar Industry, BUA Group invested in large scale estates within the country to deepen local sugar production through the acquisition of the Lafiagi Sugar Company Ltd (LASUCO) in Kwara state in 2008 and also, the establishment of the Bassa Sugar Company in Kogi State. BUA Group has also acquired about 70,000ha of land in both locations for the purpose of setting up large-scale sugar plantations. Upon fully coming on stream, these initiatives will add significantly to the development of Nigeria’s local sugar industry.
In 2001, BUA Group acquired Nigeria Oil Mills Ltd. which was established in 1951. With two main facilities (Nigeria Oil Mills, Kano & BUA Oil Mills, Lagos), the company produces oil from groundnut and cotton seeds and also produces animal feeds and soap.
BUA Oil Mills, established in 2008, produces high quality products including palm olein, stearin, Distilled Fatty Acid (DFA) amongst others.
A staple food buoyed by strong domestic demand, BUA Group currently operates a mill in Kano as well as a rice plantation in Kano, Nigeria. The Group also operates a robust out-growers Scheme targeting about 100,000 rice farmers in Kano and Jigawa States, Nigeria.
The mill is the largest in Nigeria at 200,000 tonnes per annum and is currently being upgraded to 1million metric tonnes per annum.
BUA Rice Plantation is estimated to cover a land mass of about 10,000hectares.