PORT OF BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS — Westa, Inc. plans to invest $20 million to build a wheat flour mill at the Port of Brownsville, the port recently announced.
The company will develop more than 10 acres at the new 118-acre business park, located right at the turning basin of the Brownsville Ship Channel. Once operational, the facility will employ 120 people, the port said.
“We are excited to welcome Westa Inc. to the Port of Brownsville Business Park and look forward to more announcements as we continue to attract diverse industries to our region,” said Esteban Guerra, chairman of the Brownsville Navigation District. “As the port’s business portfolio expands, these increased private investments indicate the port’s substantial role in fueling economic development and fostering innovation for the Rio Grande Valley.”
Westa said the mill will have daily flour production capacity of 500 tons (10,000 cwts), describing it as “the most modern wheat flour mill with the latest technology advantages.”
The company has not released any other details about the project.
Westa, with headquarters in Miami and Toronto, is a wholesaler in the food industry, specializing in delivering food products and trading a diverse range of agricultural commodities on a wholesale basis. It has exclusive distribution agreements with manufacturing partners in the United States, Europe, Ukraine and Turkey.
Refined and unrefined vegetable oil is Westa’s primary wholesale product, including sunflower, canola and corn oil, as well as flour-based food and confectionery.
Once Westa’s mill is operational, Texas will have nine flour mills with a combined daily milling capacity of 96,260 cwts, which would rank third behind California and Kansas, according to the Sosland Publishing Co.’s2024 Grain & Milling Annual.
