KTG Agrar increases cultivable land area by a further 1,650 hectares
"4,000 football pitches in three months"
Hamburg, 21 January 2008 – As of 31 December 2007, KTG Agrar AG increased its cultivable land by a further 1,650 hectares to approximately 17,450 hectares compared with 30 November 2007. As a result, the Hamburg-based company has expanded its position as one of the leading agricultural enterprises in Europe. KTG Agrar is starting 2008 on an optimistic note.
In Brandenburg, KTG Agrar has two agricultural enterprises with a total surface area of 1,450 hectares, 250 hectares of which are owned, while 1,200 hectares are on a long-term lease for more than ten years. A further 200 hectares of farmland were also purchased in the EU member state of Lithuania. This brings the proportion of the new area in ownership to 27%. According to Siegfried Hofreiter, CEO of KTG Agrar, “At the time of our IPO, we announced our intention to invest in expanding our cultivable land. And that’s what we are doing. In the past three months alone, we have increased our cultivable land by an area corresponding in size to 4,000 football pitches. This provides us with an excellent basis for a successful 2008 financial year. We intend to take advantage of the growth opportunities provided by agriculture.”
Siegfried Hofreiter also takes an optimistic view of the sector environment. “We are benefiting from current developments on the commodities markets. Prices for rapeseed and maize are at a record high and even wheat is at a stable high level”, commented the KTG Agrar CEO. Developments concerning agricultural commodities are driven by three main trends: the global population increase, the economic growth experienced by developing and emerging countries and the boom for organic food. As a leading producer of ecological and traditional market goods such as cereals, maize and rapeseed, KTG Agrar also intends to benefit from such developments in the future. The company’s goal is to expand its very good market position, to use further economies of scale and to raise its market share by increasing its cultivable land. At the same time, the proportion of area in ownership is also to be increased.