KINGSTON: The Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) hopes to recover its $830 million grain silos investment over the next seven years.
The company, which recently constructed three 6,000-metric tonne grain silos at its Old Harbour-based mill, has commenced preliminary layout for the fourth silo which is expected to be completed by April, bringing its total storage capacity to 24,000 metric tonnes.
JBG broke ground for the construction of six grain silos to improve on the storage capacity for raw materials used in the production of animal feeds. Assistant vice-president for energy and mill operations at JBG, John Carberry, stated that the investment has been successful so far, with the company showing improvements on operational efficiency as well as having the flexibility to capitalise on low prices offered on the market.
“This represents the single largest investment that the group has made in its core business since the ethanol plant,” Carberry told the Jamaica Observer during a media tour of the mill earlier this month. “This is state-of-the-art best practice for storage of grains and it is equipped with aeration tunnels that pull air through the bins.
“When you have any kind of biological asset in an enclosed area it can get hot. We have multiple probes in each bin that give us the temperature every 10 feet in the bin. The investment means better quality for primary ingredients, and of course that will filter through all our products, down to the chicken you eat,” he said.
Prior to the establishment of the grain silos, JBG stored the majority of its grains at an off-site warehouse in Marley Acres, four miles away from the company’s base. Tipper trucks passing the mill would carry the grain to the warehouse and front-end loaders would take it back to the company’s base when needed, according to Carberry.
