Business Desk :
After a production pause of five years, rice bran oil of Emerald Oil Industries hit the local market under the brand name “Spondon”.
A cover unveiling programme was held in this regard in the capital’s Radisson Blu Hotel on Tuesday (28 June) evening.
Minori Bangladesh Limited, a company run by Japanese investment, resumed the production of “Spondon” in January after acquiring Emerald Oil Industries which was shut down in 2016.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the oil, Managing Director Afzal Hossain said, “The company is now dealing with several obstacles in doing business including a defaulted loan of Tk100 crore, disruption of gas supply and shortage of raw material.”
He said, “if the financial institutions and Titas Gas solve these problems with sincerity, Emerald Oil can play a role in resolving the ongoing edible oil crisis in the country.”
Emerald Oil has two production units, of which one unit has a husk crushing capacity of 180 tonnes and the other has a capacity of 150 tonnes, said Afzal Hossain. Due to insufficient supply of gas, Afzal Hossain said, only the unit with 180 tonnes capacity is operational which produces about 35 tonnes of crude oil per day by crushing rice husks. At this capacity, about 26 tonnes of refined oil is available per day.
With this capability, the managing director said, the company will be able to market about 26 tonnes of rice bran oil per day.
He said, ‘We have to face two hurdles since the start of production. The first is the gas crisis and the second is rescheduling bank loans. Emerald Oil Industries Chairman Shafiqul Islam and Minori Bangladesh Chairman Mia Mamun were present at the cover unveiling ceremony.
