Zambia sugar firm plans major expansion

LUSAKA – Zambia Sugar Plc plans to raise sugar output by almost 70 per cent to 440 000 tonnes by 2011 to meet rising local demand and also for export, the company said yesterday.

Zambia Sugar said in an environmental assessment report submitted to the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) that it planned to increase sugar production to 440 000 tonnes in 2010/11 from 260 000 this year. The firm also plans to start producing ethanol at its Nakambala Estate plantation in Mazabuka, 125 km south of Lusaka, once permission was granted for its expansion programme.Zambia Sugar did not indicate how much it would spend to expand its mill and area under cultivation to reach its new production targets.The report said the firm would increase to 16 995 hectares the area of cane cultivation from the current 11 050 hectares to lift cane production to a peak of 3,25 million tonnes by 2010/11 from 1,8 million tonnes currently.”This expansion will increase sugar production from 260 000 tonnes to 440 000 tonnes over the same period,” the report said.Zambia Sugar, majority owned by South Africa’s Illovo Sugar, currently exports 10 percent of its white sugar to the European Union under a preferential sugar export treaty, while 50 per cent is consumed within Zambia and the rest exported to other southern and east African countries.The company said it would start to produce ethanol from sugar by-product molasses.”It is envisaged that molasses produced at Nakambala will be used as a source for conversion to ethanol,” the report added.Mollasses was currently sold to farmers for stock feed and also exported to South Africa, it said.Zambia Sugar Plc, which is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), employs a total of 5 102 workers, about 3 346 of them as seasonal workers during the cane cutting peak period.Nampa-ReutersThe firm also plans to start producing ethanol at its Nakambala Estate plantation in Mazabuka, 125 km south of Lusaka, once permission was granted for its expansion programme.Zambia Sugar did not indicate how much it would spend to expand its mill and area under cultivation to reach its new production targets.The report said the firm would increase to 16 995 hectares the area of cane cultivation from the current 11 050 hectares to lift cane production to a peak of 3,25 million tonnes by 2010/11 from 1,8 million tonnes currently.”This expansion will increase sugar production from 260 000 tonnes to 440 000 tonnes over the same period,” the report said.Zambia Sugar, majority owned by South Africa’s Illovo Sugar, currently exports 10 percent of its white sugar to the European Union under a preferential sugar export treaty, while 50 per cent is consumed within Zambia and the rest exported to other southern and east African countries.The company said it would start to produce ethanol from sugar by-product molasses.”It is envisaged that molasses produced at Nakambala will be used as a source for conversion to ethanol,” the report added.Mollasses was currently sold to farmers for stock feed and also exported to South Africa, it said.Zambia Sugar Plc, which is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), employs a total of 5 102 workers, about 3 346 of them as seasonal workers during the cane cutting peak period.Nampa-Reuters