{"id":74684,"date":"2014-07-17T01:08:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T15:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=74684"},"modified":"2020-11-27T16:26:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T06:26:10","slug":"2-5m-upgrade-targets-export-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/07\/17\/2-5m-upgrade-targets-export-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"$2.5m Upgrade Targets Export Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Proteco Gold owner Josh Gadischke … earthworks started on Wednesday for the $2.5m expansion of the company’s processing centre in Kingaroy\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 17, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Work began yesterday on a $2.5 million upgrade at Proteco in Kingaroy which will see the creation of a specialist edible oil refinery, the only one of its kind in Australia.<\/p>\n

Proteco Gold owner Josh Gadischke said the refinery would complement Proteco’s existing cold press oil business and lead to new jobs at the plant in William Street.<\/p>\n

Proteco currently produces unrefined edible oils for the domestic and export markets.<\/p>\n

Josh said the new refinery – the only edible oil refinery in Queensland – would allow the company to access new markets where the demand is for a refined oil, particularly China which has tight import restrictions.<\/p>\n

Not only do refined oils have a greater consistency, they are also better suited for use in cosmetics.<\/p>\n

Proteco produces almond, avocado, olive, apricot kernel, macadamia, peanut, pumpkin seed, sunflower, walnut, safflower, sesame, flaxseed and cod liver oils.<\/p>\n

Demand is strong and the current oil mill is currently running 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Josh said there were other edible oil refineries in Australia but they concentrated on producing bulk canola and safflower oils for the margarine industry.<\/p>\n

Proteco’s new refinery will be able to process several thousand tonnes of speciality oils every year.<\/p>\n

It will also have organic certification to allow it to produce organic safflower oil.<\/p>\n

Josh said he hoped to have the refinery commissioned in early 2016.<\/p>\n

“Fifty per cent of the spend will be local and 50 per cent from overseas; we will have to import some specialist equipment,” he said.<\/p>\n

The project has been three years in the planning.<\/p>\n

“The refinery will be a highly automated process but will still add five or six operational roles, not including the construction phase,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It will also be a very quiet operation and will emit almost no noise.”<\/p>\n

There is also almost no waste from the process as the residue will be sold as either soapstock or stockfeed.<\/p>\n

Josh said the refinery would\u00a0position Proteco more strongly into the future against competitors \u00a0“overseas, not necessarily in Australia”.<\/p>\n

It would also provide a competitive advantage to Proteco’s agricultural supply base.<\/p>\n

“It will complement the existing synergies of our current operation. The health food business will not change,” he said<\/p>\n

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