Thaneakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc, the recipient of a low-interest $15 million loan from the state-run Rural Development Bank, inked contracts yesterday with three companies to build and outfit its massive 200,000-tonne capacity silo and warehouse facility in Battambang province.

The facility, which will have an attached mill capable of processing 3,000 tonnes of paddy rice a day, signed a construction agreement with the Cambodian company NGY Investment. It will also purchase machinery from Taiwan’s Agrosun Co Ltd, and Thailand’s International Rice Engineering Co Ltd, according to an announcement by the Rural Development Bank (RDB) yesterday.

Phou Puy, CEO of Thaneakea Srov, said the construction of the facility would begin shortly, with the silo portion expected to be completed by August while the rice mill should be fully operational for the 2018 harvest season.

“The rice storage and processing facility will accelerate the demand of paddy rice and we hope it will help to stabilise the price during the harvest season,” he said. “The project will benefit rice farmers primarily in Battambang province, Pursat and Banteay Meanchey.”

Puy declined to give a financial figure for each contract signed.

Kao Thach, CEO of the RDB, said that the terms for the $15 million loan were granted at a 5 percent interest rate, with a repayment period of 10 years, including a two-year grace period.

Thach added that the project would help secure orders for the struggling rice sector by having a dedicated storage facility for the three provinces that, combined, produce nearly 10,000 tonnes of rice per day during the harvest season.