YANBU — Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi General Grains Organization (SAGO), inaugurated Sunday SAGO’s branch in Yanbu, raising the total number of the organization’s branches to 15.

To mark the occasion, SAGO’s governor Eng. Ahmed Al-Faris, said the opening of the new branch in this Red Sea city of Yanbu, will raise SAGO’s storage capacity to 3.5 million tons, to meet the needs of citizens, residents and other sectors related to food industries in the Kingdom.

He recalled that SAGO was established in 1971, in recognition of the importance of this sector, starting with a single branch and a limited storage and production capacity.

Al-Faris said the project, which costs more than SR364 million, is one of the initiatives of the national transformation programs represented in the development of the early warning system for food and emergencies and the management of strategic storage, aiming to enhance the strategic stock of wheat and enhance the capacities of receiving grains.

He added that the project includes concrete silos for storing grains with a total capacity of 120,000 metric tons, equipment for unloading ships on the port terminal with a capacity of 1,000 tons per hour, and a fully equipped operating tower to transport and distribute grains inside the silos.

This is in addition to laboratories, automatic control systems, complete utility lines, integrated networks for rain drainage, alarm and firefighting systems, a backup power plant, as well as other service and administrative facilities. — SPA