Tropical Farms Approved Voting Member of FCC (2955Z)
March 14 2012 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAGTA
RNS Number : 2955Z
Agriterra Ltd
14 March 2012
Agriterra Ltd / Ticker: AGTA / Index: AIM / Sector:
Agriculture
14 March 2012
Agriterra Ltd ('Agriterra' or 'the Company')
Tropical Farms Limited Approved Voting Member of the Federation
of Cocoa Commerce
Agriterra Ltd, the AIM listed pan African agricultural company,
announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Tropical Farms Ltd
('TFL'), has been approved to become the first Sierra Leonean cocoa
company to become a voting member of the Federation of Cocoa
Commerce ('FCC'), an international trade organisation that
represents all areas of the cocoa supply chain. The appointment is
expected to increase TFL's global profile amongst the major cocoa
traders and processors, and support expansion plans to become a
leading buyer, trader and producer of high quality, sustainable and
traceable cocoa by the end of 2012.
TFL is expanding its direct cocoa buying network of over 3,500
farmers, centred on Kenema, in south eastern Sierra Leone and is in
talks to purchase a former cocoa/coffee plantation and additional
contiguous land in the region. It has secured a site for a new
2,000 sq m processing and management facility and is in
negotiations to secure a 15-acre site in Sierra Leone's New Airport
Development Zone in Freetown for a collateral management facility.
TFL also has plans to expand its buying and trading commodity focus
to include coffee and palm oil, which will further complement
existing operations.
Andrew Groves, Agriterra CEO said, "The FCC works with the major
international cocoa traders and processors. I believe our voting
presence within this trade organisation highlights the potential of
TFL, and will help position the company within the global market,
helping to advance expansion plans to become a leading player in
sustainable and traceable cocoa in Sierra Leone. In addition to the
opportunities created by the FCC, strong growth plans and a healthy
balance sheet create a bullish outlook for 2012, and I remain
highly confident about the future of TFL. TFL's activities
complement Agriterra's established beef and maize buying and
processing operations in Mozambique and further enforce the
Company's objective of building a pan-African agricultural
company."
For more information on the FCC, please visit
www.cocoafederation.com
** ENDS **
For further information please visit www.agriterra-ltd.com or
contact:
Andrew Groves Agriterra Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408
9200
Jonathan Wright Seymour Pierce Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107
8000
David Foreman Seymour Pierce Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107
8000
Andy Cuthill MC Peat & Co LLP Tel: +44 (0) 20 7104
2332
Hugo de Salis St Brides Media & Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Ltd 1177
Susie Geliher St Brides Media & Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
Ltd 1177
Notes
Agriterra Ltd is an AIM listed agricultural company with four
divisions: beef, maize, cocoa and palm oil. Its cattle ranching
business, Mozbife, currently has a 2,350 strong herd, a land
holding of over 16,000 hectares, a feedlot and a 4,000 head per
month abattoir which is under construction. In addition to selling
meat from its own herds, throughput for the feedlot and abattoir
will be supplemented using cattle bought in from local
communities.
The Company's maize buying and milling operations, DECA and
Compagri, are located in Chimoio and Tete in central and
north-western Mozambique respectively. These collect maize from
circa 350,000 farmers using the Company's own vehicle fleet,
process it into mealie meal, the African staple, and then sell it
back to the local market, into supermarkets and to the World Food
Programme. Combined sales for the year ended 31 May totalled 28,822
tonnes maize meal generating revenue of US$13.6 million.
Agriterra's cocoa business is based in Sierra Leone, through its
100% subsidiary TFL, which is currently a buying and trading
operation, but provides an ideal conduit to branch out into cocoa
production in West Africa. Its strategy is to establish itself as a
secure, sustainable and traceable source of supply to meet the
requirements of the major cocoa consumers who are placing increased
emphasis in this area.
The Company has expanded its portfolio of agricultural products
through the addition of palm oil, and holds a lease over
approximately 45,000 hectares of brownfield agricultural land in an
area suitable for palm oil production in the Pujehun District in
the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. This area of Sierra Leone,
which is close to the Liberian border, receives one the highest
levels of rainfall in Sierra Leone, which in itself, receives some
of the highest rainfall globally. In addition, the lease area is
located on the equatorial belt, which is the most favourable
geographical location for palm oil production.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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