EGYPT – Egypt based Canal Sugar Company, has kick started operations at it newly built processing facility, deemed to be the world’s largest beet sugar plant.
According to reports by Egypt today, the factory’s first and second processing lines have set the turbines rolling commencing with a production capacity of 18,000 tons per day/400,000 tonnes a year of white sugar.
It is expected to reach maximum production capacities of about one million tons per year during the next year 2023.
The factory is supported by a sugar silo with a capacity of 450,000 tonnes and will be fed with raw materials from both the company’s farm and neighbouring local farmers.
The Canal Company, which UAE Al Ghurair Group owns a controlling stake of, has invested about US$1 billion in the establishment of the project which includes construction and fashioning of the plant, in addition to developing and reclaiming 181,000 acres of desert land using groundwater, to produce 2.5 million tons of sugar beet per year.
The project also includes farmland to grow 150,000 tonnes of wheat, 135,000 tonnes of chickpeas and 130,000 tonnes of Maize.
Once the sugar factory attains maximum production capacities, the company will contribute positively to Egypt achieving 100 percent self-sufficiency production of sugar in line with the state’s vision to achieve sustainable development in 2030.
It is expected to bridge the 75 percent gap between local sugar production and consumption in the North African country which currently stands at about 1 million tonnes as Egypt produces around 2.5 million tonnes of sugar annually but needs 3.3 million tonnes.
Due to demand overshadowing local production, Egypt turns to imports. However, the new facility is set to replace imports worth $900 million annually, and will also export by-products worth up to 120 million tons annually.
Other than producing white sugar, the company plans to produce 216,000 tons of beet pulp and 243,000 tons of “molasses” annually, which are all exported abroad.
The Canal Sugar Company has been established with a contribution from the Emirati Gamal Al Ghurair Group of Companies, Al Ahly Capital Holding Company, the investment arm of the National Bank of Egypt, and the UAE Murban Energy Limited Company.
Once fully operational it is set to provide 1,500 direct jobs, in addition to direct workers, which amount to about 50,000 farmers and indirect workers.
In Egypt, there are 15 sugar processors, eight processing sugarcane and seven processing sugar beets, plus now Canal Sugar Company.
All eight sugarcane processors are state-run companies affiliated with Ministry of Supply and Industrial Trade’s (MoSIT) Holding Company for Food Industries (HCFI). Of the eight sugar beet processors, four are private sector and the rest are state-run companies.
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