World Grain - June 2022 - 81

ADVERTORIAL
" There's huge demand coming from two directions.
Because grain prices are so high, farmers have profited
and want to invest after many years when margins were
low, and they didn't have any money to invest. Also, during
COVID most people began eating at home so there
was a significant increase in grain consumption. "
However, the unleashing of this pent-up demand for
grain and as a result, grain storage and handling equipment,
comes at a time when supply chain problems as
well as geopolitical issues are preventing quick and efficient
movement of materials and goods.
" Before COVID, we took an order and it took 10 to
Dr. Khaled Raed, CEO PETKUS MENA, CIO PETKUS.
" In the past, in many places there you would see wheat
laying on the ground bare, " Raed said. " There were no
silos; it was just imported and transported. Nowadays it is
important to have a port terminal with grain storage silos to
keep the grain in good condition before it is transported. "
One of the keys to maintaining grain quality is utilizing
color sorting and drying technology, he said. The
sorter rejects grain kernels that are damaged while dryers
bring down moisture levels in grain so that funguses
such as aflatoxin and mycotoxin don't develop. Because
hot weather is predominant in the MENA region, the risk
for aflatoxin or mycotoxin development in grain is much
higher than in many parts of the world, he said.
Raed said PETKUS technology can reduce up to 90%
of aflatoxin, which can make a big difference in region
that can't afford to see any of its grain deteriorate to the
point that it can't be used.
The company's OptoSelector OS t color sorter processes
individual kernel images and includes size and shape
recognition technology as a standard feature in additon
to its unique transmission technology. Defects having the
same color and shape as the good material can now be removed
by recognizing differing transmission characteristics,
which are related to the absorption ability of the light.
Similarly, broken or deformed pieces of otherwise good
material also can be rejected.
For the MENA region, which typically imports 60% of
its grain from the Black Sea region, most notably Ukraine
and Russia, the blockade of Ukrainian grain shipments
by sea plus the supply chain issues that still exist because
of the COVID-19 pandemic have created a perfect storm
that threatens food security.
Soaring demand, supply difficulties
To complicate matters even further, demand for grain storage
and handling equipment in the region, as well as many
other parts of the world, is at an all-time high, Raed said.
" We're at an all-time high in orders, " Raed said.
20 weeks maximum to deliver, " he said. " Now it's about
two times more. On one side you have high demand for
our products but on the other side you have a bottleneck
in the supply chain that doesn't allow for materials to
move as fast.
" It used to have six months validity on our bids and
now we're bidding for projects that are to be realized in
1 to 2 years. That required much more fine planning and
risk management, especially in a highly volatile market. "
Not only are companies like PETKUS waiting longer
on shipments from suppliers, but the cost of inbound materials
has sky-rocketed in this high-demand, difficult-totransport
environment.
" Since COVID, steel prices have increased by 83%, "
Raed said. " Microchips have increased 1,000 times the
price they were before COVID. It's really out of control.
Demand is so high that if you want to have it next month
you will pay the premium price, or you can order it at a
discounted price, but you have to wait for three years to
receive it. "
The higher price for raw materials used to construct a
bin, which is comprised of 40% steel, means an increase
in the price of the end product, Raed said.
" Because of the increase in steel prices, our clients
are beginning to talk to us about multi-use of the storage
plants, " Raed said. " They want to store as many as three
different crops in the same plant, so they're needing a special
engineering logistic concept as well as proper cleaning
solutions to prevent cross-contamination. "
He said in these difficult times companies need to rethink
planning and project management. To deal with
these challenges, projects should be planned as early
as possible, and delivery shortages should be taken
into calculation.
PETKUS is German-based company with more than 170 years
of tradition in developing, design and manufacturing different
technologies for the grain and seed business. It has five hubs and
more than 20 offices worldwide to follow up closely its mission under
the slogan: " Strong Seed and Healthy Grain. "
World Grain - June 2022

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