The flour milling industry is a vivacious segment that combines conventional skills with high technology to manufacture an extensive range of flours. Similar to several other industries, the flour milling industry has sustained to consolidate in recent years. Milling is the practice by which rice,
wheat,
maize, corn, barley, etc., are ground into flour, through which the grain is separated into their constituent parts.
Businesses in this industry partake in activities, such as milling grains and vegetables into flour, cleaning, dusting and crushing rice and manufacturing malt from different cereal grains. Industry operators buy grain inputs, like wheat, barley, corn and rice directly from growers or from wholesalers. Then, they process them into, flour, malt, starch and gluten and sell those products to grocery traders or other food-associated industries.
Flour Milling Industry Products
Flour is a precious, versatile and nourishing product, which is crammed with minerals and vitamins. It is probably one among the most vital food ingredients in the world and it forms a necessary part of the daily diet of people, ranging from breakfast to sandwich lunch or day tea, through to the evening meal. Some of the flour milling industry products includes:
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Wheat mill products, without flour.
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Wheat flour.
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Corn mill products.
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Organized flour blends.
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Other grain crush products.
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Rice crushing.
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Malt production.
Flour Milling Industry Activities
A flour milling industry involves in activities, such as:
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Producing flour from corn.
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Producing flour from wheat.
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Producing flour mixes from different grain crops.
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Producing malt from diverse cereal grains.
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Milling rough rice.
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Producing meal and animal feed.
The flour milling industry in different countries
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is self-adequate in flour with a small constructive trade balance. In the UK, the flour is used as the major ingredient in bread, but it can also be used to make cakes, biscuits, soups, pies and a variety of processed foods. Nowadays, flour milling in the United Kingdom is an automatic and resourceful industry, having developed a long-way from the days of wind-driven and water-driven mills. Modern flourmills function as incessant-flow operations all through the year. The flour milling industry in the United Kingdom continues to be the major single user of domestic wheat.
United States
The size and number of
flour mills in the American flour milling industry cause the structural changes in the country. This is because of the increasing disposable income and declining in grain prices. As these are the major reasons for changes in the distribution and size of bigger flourmills, automation in manufacture and higher disposable proceeds are vital factors for smaller mills. It is also expected that the domestic supply of flour will be adequate to meet the rising domestic demand by 2000, although the number of wheat flourmills in the United States is expected to decline to 160 from the existing 203.
China
Regarding flour supply, the flour milling industry in China grinds more flour, particularly wheat flour, than any other country in the world. During communist times, many small mills served an area, which is equal to the size of a township. The smallest political division of China takes in local wheat to manufacture flour for nearby villages and towns. However, the condition has been changing quickly in the 30 years since the start of the market-oriented economic improvements. There has been a stable trend toward bigger mills, which are mainly selling to food processing businesses, targeting the growing urban population in the country.
Africa
Africa has great potential for developing flour milling industry because of its large population and rich grain resources. There have been many flour mills in Sthiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, etc. But in fact the market potential is still large, which means it is still profitable to set up flour mills for wheat, maize, etc. in the above countries or many other African countries.
Starting a new flour mill
The echelon of capital investment required to perform flour milling industry functions is the major barricade to new entrants. Flour milling is quite capital intensive that needs a huge up-front investment in a processing plant and machinery for milling functions. Another factor influencing the prospective new industry entrants is the level of production. Several existing companies are featured by large-scale manufacture volumes, which minimize per-unit manufacturing costs. Moreover, larger companies are capable of buying input commodities, such as wheat, barley, corn, rice, etc., in bulk for a low-cost per-unit, thus accomplishing economies of scale. New flourmill industry entrants usually do not have the large-scale manufacturing facilities essential to make the most of lower commodity expenses.
Conclusion
As flour mills supply goods that are measured diet staples, the industry will stay pertinent in the years to come. Revenue and turnover will count on the price and production of rice, wheat, maize, corn, barley, etc. As businesses vertically incorporate and combine operations to make the most of the economies of scale, income will increase.
