Mozambique: New sugar refinery will cut imports by US$60 million

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Mozambique: New sugar refinery will cut imports by US$60 million

12:18 CAT | 25 Jul 2017

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Mozambique will save US$60 million annually on the import of refined sugar when a new sugar refinery comes online in October 2018.

Watched by members of government and partners, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário officiated at the laying of the foundations of the new Açucareira industrial unit in Xinavane in the southern province of Maputo yesterday and

The new industrial unit, the result of an investment of 2.5 billion meticais (about US$41 million), will have an annual capacity of 90,000 tons, and will respond to the needs of the national market in the next seven to 10 years.

The refined sugar produced there will have FSSC 22000 food safety certification, in addition to contributing to the growth of supply and availability in the Mozambican market.

The country spends about US$60 million a year on imports of refined sugar for the country’s various beverage and food industries, in particular for soft drinks, dairy products, beers, sweets and confectionery.

Speaking at the laying of the first stone, do Rosário said that the event was a sign of investor confidence in the country as well as Mozambique’s commitment to growthe.

Raw sugar produced in Mozambique country was exported for processing and refining, and was used to satisfy various consumption needs in those countries, but who knew if it was the same product that returned to Mozambique, he asked.

“The money we lose sending raw sugar abroad and buying back refined sugar will now stay in Mozambique,” the prime minister said, pointing out that the refinery would allow that money to spent buying products not yet manufactured here, such as fuel and medicine.

The building of the new refinery is in line with the government goals embodied in the 2015/19 Five-Year Plan, the prime minister said, noting that added value happens in the various branches of the economy when the country’s natural resources are transformed into wealth.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Max Tonela said that the sugar industry played an important role in the socio-economic development of the country with its contribution to employment and exports.

Last year the sugar sector employed more than 31,000 people, and was the second largest employer after civil service. More than half of national production was exported to the European market.

The country currently imports about 40,000 tons per year, but the refinery will add refined sugar to the products that the country exports, a product with higher value. Depending on scale, the investment will create up to 3,000 jobs in the cane fields, and 60 jobs in the factory.

Xinavane Sugarcane has an estimated installed capacity of 250,000 tons of brown sugar, but drought cut production volume to 148,000 thousand tons, increasing to 170,000 tons this year, of which 65 percent was for export.

As a whole, the country has an estimated capacity at 500,000 tons of sugar, and the new refinery will make Mozambique self-sufficient in the production of both raw and refined sugar.

By Leonel Muchano

Source: AIM Moçambique