As governments in the Middle East expand grain storage to bolster food security and re-route flows towards Africa, Germany-based CESCO EPC GmbH is stepping up its focus on high-capacity, rail-connected grain terminals across the region. CEO Martino Celeghini explains how larger terminals, brownfield modernisations and data-driven operations are becoming a backbone of the region’s food security strategy.

Speaking to Miller Magazine on the sidelines of IAOM MEA in Jeddah, CESCO EPC CEO Dr. Martino Celeghini said the company is seeing “very strong momentum” for port and inland terminals in the Gulf, driven by geopolitics, demographics and changing diets. “Today, the Middle East is one of the most important regions for our sector,” Celeghini said. “We are very much focused on grain port terminals and inland grain terminals. This is driven by geopolitical stability, rapid population growth and changes in dietary habits, all of which put food security at the top of the agenda.”

CESCO EPC, headquartered in Konstanz, Germany, specialises in the design and supply of industrial plants for grain logistics and processing, covering handling, storage and processing systems as well as steel structures and buildings for flour and feed mills. Its core business areas are inland and port grain terminals, steel structures for milling plants and turnkey solutions, with projects across Europe, the Middle East, Central America and Africa. 

RISING STORAGE DEMAND IN THE MIDDLE EAST

For many countries in the Gulf and wider MENA region, the response to supply-chain shocks has been to build more and bigger storage. Celeghini notes that a typical grain port terminal that once handled around 100,000 tons is now being superseded by facilities in the 200,000- to 500,000-ton range. “To ensure food security, countries in this region are increasing their storage capacities,” he said. “That naturally leads to the development of larger and larger grain terminals, most of them located at ports.”

One of CESCO’s showcase projects is a 300,000-ton rice terminal in the Port of Doha, Qatar, which the company is currently commissioning. In Saudi Arabia, CESCO recently shipped about 180 containers of equipment for a 200,000-ton grain terminal for United Feed Company.

Beyond sheer size, Celeghini stresses the strategic location of such terminals. “There is a great opportunity here to channel grain flows from all over the world both into the Middle East and towards Africa,” he said. “That is why we see a lot of ongoing investments in this region.”

He describes customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and across the Gulf as “pragmatic and forward-looking,” adding that they “strive for high efficiency, high quality, short delivery times and uncomplicated dealings”, a combination that has created, in his words, “a very positive environment for the development of our business.”

FROM GREENFIELD PROJECTS TO BROWNFIELD UPGRADES

While headline-grabbing greenfield terminals dominate project lists, a growing share of CESCO EPC’s order book comes from modernising existing assets. “In many older facilities the concrete silos and main structures are still perfectly usable,” Celeghini explained. “The parts that need renewal are the conveying equipment and the electromechanical side.”

These brownfield projects typically involve replacing full conveyor lines, installing higher-efficiency motors and retrofitting advanced automation and plant control systems. The objective is not only to cut energy use but also to improve reliability of the system, safety for operators and the environment. “By updating the conveying and ship-unloading systems, the overall operation becomes much faster,” Celeghini said. “This reduces vessel turnaround times in port, and that is exactly what our customers are looking for.”

The company’s offering spans the full chain from basic mechanical handling – conveyors, elevators, silos and process bins – through to steel structures and buildings for milling and feed plants, allowing it to integrate upgrades into a single engineering concept. 

RAIL-READY TERMINALS AND INTERMODALITY

One clear trend reshaping grain logistics, according to Celeghini, is the shift from road-only systems to intermodal concepts that link ports and hinterland hubs by rail. “A very important trend we see is the intermodality of grain terminals,” he said. “In addition to large port terminals, there is a growing trend to connect these port terminals with inland terminals by rail.”

Under this model, long-distance flows from the shoreline into the interior are handled by unit trains, while trucks are reserved mainly for regional and last-mile distribution from inland silos to mills, feed plants and industrial users.

To support these concepts, CESCO EPC has developed intake and loading solutions that can serve both trains and trucks, with integrated weighing systems capable of registering entire trains as they move through loading bays. “Rail connections are extremely efficient,” Celeghini said. “They allow you to plan movements in advance and avoid putting a huge number of trucks on the road. Ship-to-rail connections are a very interesting development for more efficient and more environmentally friendly grain logistics, and we see strong interest in this concept across the region.”

DATA, SENSORS AND AI IN GRAIN LOGISTICS

Alongside bricks and steel, digitalisation – including early applications of artificial intelligence – is becoming a standard component of new terminal designs. Celeghini sees AI as an enabling technology rather than an end in itself. “AI is a tool that is being used more and more,” he said. “On one side, it supports R&D activities as a powerful source of knowledge and insight. On the other side, it plays a growing role in the operation of grain terminals.”

The starting point, he emphasises, is data acquisition. Sensors embedded in the plant – from temperature probes inside silos to vibration and power-consumption meters on critical equipment – generate streams of data that can be analysed to identify anomalies, predict failures and optimise settings. “When you have reliable data, you can use AI-based algorithms to detect issues early and optimise the process,” Celeghini said. “This can improve safety – for example by identifying hotspots in a silo – as well as energy efficiency and overall performance of the terminal.”

For a company whose core mission is “smart solutions for grain logistics and processing,” the integration of digital tools into mechanical and structural engineering is a natural evolution. 

From its headquarters in Konstanz and additional facilities in Italy, Spain and Serbia, CESCO EPC now manages project phases from concept and basic engineering through detailed design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning. 

With record harvests in many exporting regions but continued concern over shipping routes, freight costs and geopolitical disruptions, the pressure on import-dependent countries to strengthen storage and logistics infrastructure is unlikely to ease soon.

For Celeghini, that means the Middle East’s current investment cycle is not a short-lived boom but part of a deeper structural shift. “Together, the move toward larger high-capacity terminals, the modernisation of existing facilities and the growth of intermodal, rail-connected logistics are transforming the way grain moves through this region,” he said. “Our goal at CESCO EPC is to be a long-term partner in that transformation – making grain logistics more efficient, more resilient and more sustainable.”