By Chris McCullough

Plans have been drawn up to build the world’s biggest integrated dairy farm and milk powder production facility in Algeria, in an investment worth US$3.5 billion.

Home to 44 million people, Algeria is the world’s third largest importer of milk powder, therefore the country’s government is keen to become more self-sustainable in dairy production.

With that in mind, the Algerian government, via its National Investment Fund, has entered a partnership with Baladna, a major dairy producer in Qatar, to set up the newly formed company subsidiary Baladna Algeria SPA.

The project will consist of a number of farms with a total herd size of 272,000 cows across 117,000ha of land in Algeria.

German dairy and food equipment specialist, GEA, has been tasked with building the new farms and production facility.

This is one of the biggest orders GEA has taken on and is said to be worth between €140 million and €170 million, with respective order intake to be booked in second half of 2025.

When in action, the new plant will produce around 50% of Algeria's national milk powder needs, representing a significant step towards self-sufficiency.

The partnership’s purpose is to finance and manage the construction of a state-of-the-art integrated dairy farming and milk powder production facility in Algeria’s Adrar province.

Additionally, the project will create approximately 5,000 job opportunities for local skilled labour.

Construction will commence at the beginning of 2026, with the first milk powder coming off the production line by the end of 2027.

When at full capacity, the new plant will be able to produce approximately 100,000t of milk powder per year.

Stefan Klebert, chief executive of GEA, said: “Not only are we building the world’s largest facility of its kind, we are also helping to strengthen regional food security and economic development."

The company will provide equipment to run the facility’s large milking parlours as well as its milk powder and anhydrous milk fat installations.

Mohamed Moutaz Al-Khayyat, chairperson of Baladna, said: “This engagement with GEA marks a milestone in the acceleration of the project.

“We are proud to attract the most prominent national and international expertise and renowned companies from all over the world to contribute to the completion of the project, following the highest international standards."