Record malt kiln opens to meet demand

International malting company Boortmalt yesterday opened the world’s largest kiln in Buckie. It is hoped the new kiln will allow the company to buy more barley locally in the north of Scotland, supporting farmers in those areas.

The kiln completes the expansion of Boortmalt’s Buckie malting plant on the Morayshire coast.

The extension was opened by Yvan Schaepman, Boortmalt group chief executive and Douglas Ross, Moray MP and Scottish Conservative leader.

The malting plant, under the name of Pauls Malt, has been in operation since the 1970s.

The business, which is one of the oldest malting businesses in the UK, has built the kiln and expanded its supporting buildings by 19,000sq ft to support the growing demand for malt in whisky distilling and brewing across the globe.

The new kiln measures 134ft in diameter and has a capacity to hold 600 tonnes of malt per batch.

It also boasts economical burner technology, designed to increase energy efficiency.

Boortmalt’s expansion has been completed within 12 months of breaking ground.

It will see malt production capacity increase by 50% to approximately 90,000 megatonnes per year.

The increased capacity

will reduce the distance malt and barley will be transported each year and will improve the local supply chain efficiency, thereby helping to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Mr Schaepman said: “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.

“In less than 12 months, our people in Buckie have built the largest kiln in the world. Well done!”

Boortmalt operates in the UK as Pauls Malt.

It has run its malting facility in Buckie since 1974 where it sources barley and sells its product locally,

with the majority of its malt being delivered around Speyside.

The plant employs 24 people in Buckie.

Boortmalt is a worldleading malting company, with three million tonnes production capacity and malt sales.

The group is present on five continents with 27 malting plants.

DRAM-ATIC: From left, Charles Tozer, Yvan Schaepman and Peter Nallen, all of Boortmalt, with Moray MP Douglas Ross, second from right, at the Buckie kiln.