Egg production is forecast to more than quadruple as the result of new investment by a water company in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, one of the Kingdom’s largest poultry producers has invested in a large modern cooling plant to reduce its environmental impact.
The planned increase in egg output is as much as 450% to 165 million eggs per year, reports Zawya.
Investing 12.31 million riyal (SAR; US$3.28 million) in the project is Naqi Water Company, in partnership with Belad Al Sham Contracting Company.
The official launch of the project was last week, while completion is scheduled for September of 2025. According to the same source, commercial production is due to start less than two months later, in early in November.
Annual egg production in Saudi Arabia in 2023 was just over 6.69 billion, according to the statistics arm of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOstat. This is an estimated figure, and covers fresh hen eggs in shell. The same source gives an official figure of 6.94 billion eggs in the previous year. These equate to 361,400 metric tons (mt), and 375,000mt, respectively.
Leading poultry company invests in major cooling facility
Al Watania Poultry — one of Saudi Arabia’s largest poultry companies — announced the launch of its latest investment in November.
With a capacity of 17,700kW, it is the biggest cooling plant in the Middle East, reported Trade Arabia.
High capacity is required as the new facility will service a number of biothermal loads. These include a poultry plant processing 36,000 birds per hour, and its associated cold storage facilities and three box freezers.
At the launch, acting CEO Mohammed bin Hamad Alshaya stressed the company’s commitment to advancing national food security and sustainability.
“Watania Poultry is deeply committed to serving our community by adhering to the highest environmental standards and ensuring safe, sustainable practices that protect natural resources and uphold our principles of sustainable development,” he said.
In partnership with specialist gas purification company Azzuro of the Netherlands over the project, Al Watania will be reduce harmful emissions from its water treatment plant. Furthermore, the company says, it is working to explore renewable energy sources and reduce diesel emissions with Tadweem Power Company and others.
The source adds that the poultry company's collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and the Saudi Electricity Company aims to give full integration into the national grid, replacing liquid fuels with cleaner energy sources.
Annual slaughtering of 312 million birds makes Al Watania Poultry the second largest poultry producer in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, according to WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies survey in 2023.
In recent weeks, Bloomberg reported that Al Watania Poultry’s owners were exploring the sale of the company. BSF Capital was reported to be working on a possible deal.
