Italian industrial vehicle manufacturing company, IVECO, recently supplied 160 Trakker, models AT380T38H 6×4 rigid trucks and AT720T42TH 6×4 tractor trucks to Phibela Industrial PLC, an Ethiopian edible oil (with 1.6 million liters per day), oilseeds crusher, specialty fats and oleo chemicals manufacturer.
The vehicles meet the company’s specific technical and operational requirements with their capacity to work on impenetrable, broken terrains, and tackle the constant stresses of the harshest conditions while delivering extraordinary performance. The Trakker trucks will be used to cover the route between Djibouti and Bure.
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa after to Nigeria with a population of over 110 million. The country spends about USD600 million annually to purchase edible oil from abroad, which amounts to 25% of the county’s foreign trade expenses.
It imports 95% its demand from edible oil producing countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. The cooking oil demand of the Ethiopian market is 507,191 tonnes annually, of which almost 95% is imported edible oil.
Most of the oil consumed is imported palm oil, followed by locally – produced Niger seed oil. Therefore, the establishment Phibela Industrial PLC in Ethiopia can significantly contribute to significant savings in the country’s foreign currency expenditure.
Phibela Industrial PLC covers 29 hectares of land leased from Amhara Regional Government in the industrial town of Bure (441km from Addis Ababa) and it is part of the Belayneh Kindie Import Export Group (BKIE), which is also the assembler of IVECO Heavy trucks shipped in kits from Europe in completely-knock-down units.
Fabio De Serafini, IVECO Africa & Middle East Business Director, added: “The strong collaboration with Belayneh Kindie Import Export in Ethiopia is testament to our commitment and reliability in providing the best transport solution, always focusing on the concept that quality and excellent service are our priority when meeting our customers’ business needs.”