July 24 (SeeNews) - Romania's EximBank has reached an agreement to lend 1 million lei ($255,323/219,029 euro) to local hemp products maker Canah International for the expansion of its processing plant in western Romania.
The funds will be used for expanding storage capacity and for acquisitions of equipment that will help Canah increase the quality of its products, EximBank said in a press release on Monday.
"We intend to continue our growth, to diversify our product range and to consolidate our top positioning on the global market we are active on," founder and manager of Canah International Dan Lazarescu said.
Canah International's factory in Salonta, Bihor county started activity in 2007 and it is the only integrated processing and ecologically certified production facility for hemp seeds in Europe.
The raw material comes mostly form imports. The company mainly makes cold pressed hemp seeds oil, hemp oil capsules, peeled hemp seeds, protein hemp seeds powder, hemp seeds flour, hemp seeds fiber, hemp oil lotion for healthy skin and hemp seeds bars.
At the end of 2016, Canah posted a turnover of 24 million lei, up 5% on the year and employed 35.
The company has upgraded continuously its facilities so that it has doubled its production capacity in 2015, reaching 2,000 tons of seeds per year.
The company’s products are 80% delivered abroad, especially in Western Europe but also in the USA, labeled as Canah or with a private label.
Majority state-owned EximBank focuses on providing financing, guarantees and insurance services to Romanian companies, especially exporters, small and medium-sized enterprises and companies running projects in core sectors of the economy.
(1 euro =4.5656 Romanian lei)