Fenland farmers to supply bio-ethanol plant

WHEAT grown by East Anglian farmers will be processed into bio-ethanol following a five-year deal between Fengrain and Glencore Grain.

Glencore is a major player in the UK grain industry and is the exclusive supplier of wheat to Ensus, the UK’s largest bio-ethanol plant at Teeside, which processes 1.2m tonnes of the crop annually.

The company also has exclusive rights to export wheat through the UK’s leading deep water facility at Tilbury and will have long term use of the Fengrain store in Wimblington, Cambridgeshire.

To optimise supply routes to the Ensus plant, Glencore will create a grain transit facility at Ely that will supply wheat from the Fens to the plant at Teesside, with Fengrain being the preferred supplier.

A Glencore statement said: “Industrial demand for grain in East Anglia is not strong and therefore the alliance with Fengrain will enable both businesses to enhance their respective positions at the forefront of the sector.”

The news will be welcomed by growers keen to combat East Anglia’s growing surplus of feed grain by finding new markets following the recent closure of the Syral Icklingham plant.

Fengrain chairman Paul Wilkinson said: “The alliance with Glencore will provide us with additional market intelligence and access to developing markets, while continuing to service our existing important customer base.”