International malting giant Boortmalt has officially opened the world’s largest kiln in Scotland to help meet growing demand across the global distilling and brewing markets.
The Belgian company, which trades as Pauls Malt in the UK, built the kiln as part of the £12 million expansion of its facility at Buckie on the Morayshire coast. At 41 metres in diameter with capacity to hold 600 tonnes of malt per batch, the new kiln will increase production capacity by 50 per cent to 90,000 metric tonnes per year.
Boortmalt has been running the plant at Buckie, which currently employs 24 people, since 1974. It is one of 27 such facilities the group operates around the world.
“We are extremely confident in the future of the malting sector, and the expansion will allow us to keep up with the high performance of our customer base,” group chief executive Yvan Schaepman said.
“In less than 12 months, our people in Buckie have built the largest kiln in the world – well done.”
UK general manager Charles Tozer said the expansion of the kiln and supporting buildings by 1,800sq metres will allow Boortmalt to purchase more barley locally in the north of Scotland, supporting farmers in those areas. Imports of malting barley are a long-standing source of concern for Scottish farmers keen to ensure the country’s whisky industry uses home-grown crops as much as possible.
“We pride ourselves on working alongside each distiller and brewer to offer them the malt that will work best for the style of beer or whisky that they produce,” Mr Tozer said. “We are excited for what the future holds after significantly expanding our production capacity.”
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Boortmalt said the investment will improve the site’s sustainability credentials as the increased capacity will reduce the distance malt and barley is transported each year. The company said this will improve efficiency in the local supply chain, thereby helping to reduce carbon emissions.
Across its global operations spanning five continents, Boortmalt produces three million tonnes of malt annually for the distilling and brewing industries. It has four plants in the UK, with the Moray facility joined by other facilities in Montrose, Knapton in North Yorkshire, and Bury St Edmunds in East Anglia.
The company noted that global sales of whisky are projected to reach $108 billion (£90bn) by 2031.
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