Russia's Plans $60 Mil Rice Plant Upgrade

Russia's top rice producer Razgulay plans a $60 million upgrade of one of its three rice processing plants that would enable it to process 500 MT of rice per day instead of current 400 MT. The plant, located in the southern Krasnodar region, was acquired by Razgulay in 2000.

Razgulay, which processes around 70 percent of rice grown in Russia, raised $144 million in 2006 in Russia's first major agricultural IPO.

It is also the country's second-largest sugar beet grower and one of the top grain processors and traders. Razgulay raised processing of rice last year to over 375,000 tonnes from 133,000 in 2005.