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COMMODITY NEWS<br />
SUGAR<br />
Ghana<br />
Omnicane To Invest US$250 Million In Ghanaian Sugar Production<br />
Mauritian sugar company Omnicane will invest US$250 million in a 100,000 T production unit in Northern Ghana. The agreement<br />
forms the basis for strengthening investment partnership in the agricultural sectors in both nations and correct imbalances in the<br />
Ghana’s import bill, which rose to US$17 billion in 2013 from US$ 11 billion in 2010.<br />
[Africa Report 27/05/14]<br />
Malawi<br />
Illovo’s Operations Decline 12%<br />
Illovo’s Malawian subsidiary saw profit from operations decline 12% to<br />
29-billion Malawian kwacha [R762m], with headline earnings per share<br />
at 2,6<strong>37</strong> tambala from 2,930 tambala in 2013. During the 2013-14<br />
season, overall sugar cane production amounted to 2.4-million tons.<br />
The group’s factories at Nchalo and Dwangwa were affected by<br />
unseasonal inclement weather and experienced plant operational<br />
breakdowns during the crushing period. Despite these challenges,<br />
overall sugar production totaled 289,000 tons for the season. Sugar<br />
sales for the year were just over 290,000 tons, with the domestic<br />
market accounting for 58% of this.<br />
The balance was exported to Europe, North America and the region.<br />
Illovo Sugar continues to focus on its operations in the rest of the<br />
continent to offset flagging production prospects in South Africa.<br />
Its Zambian and Malawian units account for more than 70% of its<br />
operating profit.<br />
[Business Day 13/05/14]<br />
Nigeria<br />
Dangote Sugar To Produce 2-Million Tonnes Per Annum<br />
The Dangote Sugar Refinery [DSR] aims at producing 1.5-2 million tonnes of sugar per annum from locally grown sugar cane<br />
within the next 5-10 years. It disclosed this at the company’s 8th Annual General Meeting [AGM] following the Government’s<br />
National Sugar Master Plan, which has prompted the company to begin its own development plan. The plan has been structured<br />
to include an increased focus on backward integration project. Dangote has acquired some 200,000 ha of land to meet the<br />
development plan to be used for the development of sugar cane plantations and construction of modern sugar processing<br />
factories.<br />
[Nigerian Tribune 28/05/14]<br />
South Africa<br />
Sugar Workers Plan First Strike for 17 Years<br />
About 5,500 sugar workers in South Africa went on strike demanding an 11% increase in pay, in the first industry-wide stoppage<br />
since 1997. Employers including Illovo Sugar Ltd. and Tongaat Hulett Ltd. Africa’s two biggest producers, have offered raises of<br />
8.5%, meaning the two sides are relatively close.<br />
[Bloomberg 26/05/14]<br />
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