Sudan’s public sugar factories produce 356,000 tons from ‘09 harvest

June 14, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – Sugar production of four public factories in the season 2008/09 reached 356,000 metric tons, a figure presented as a high one by Minister of Industry Jalal Yousif Al-Degair.

He said that the production of the sugar factories — New Halfa, Genain, Assalaya, and Sennar — in the past season was 342,000 metric tons.

The Minister did not include Sudan’s largest sugar factory in his count, presumably because the Kenana factory is only about one-third owned by the Government of Sudan. The other shareholders include the Government of Kuwait with about 30 percent, Saudi Arabia with over 10 percent, the Arab Investment Company with 7 percent, and the state-owned Sudan Development Corporation with about 5 percent.

Overall, the country produces about 850,000 metric tons per year. According to a June 2009 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, this year’s harvest is estimated to have gained 3.6 percent over the 2007/08 harvest. The FAO attributes the gains to “favourable weather conditions and conducive public support.”

Al-Degair indicated that the total area under cultivation for sugar cane in the season 2008/09 was 88,506 feddans, compared to 86,728 feddans last season.

Plans for significant expansion of the sugar industry are already underway. These will improve irrigation infrastructure in order to increase the cane areas under cultivation.

A Morrocon company, Awna Investment, aims to implement a 500 million euro (US$696.9 million) project, the Gafa project which will produce 43,000 tons of sugar a year when output begins in three years.

Another project, an ethanol initiative at the Kenana plant, will begin production in the next year, said Minister Al-Degair.

(ST)