Sudan plans to more than triple sugar production, Kenana Says

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“Sudan has an important role to play, with the potentials we have in land, water, climate, to come in and fill in the world gap in sugar production” - Mohamed El Mardi, Managing Director, Kenana Sugar Co. (September 2009)

Raw-sugar prices in New York rose 98 percent this year while refined sugar advanced 77 percent in London.

Source: Bloomberg report by Maram Mazen and Alaa Shahine, Sept. 11 2009:
Sudan Plans to More Than Triple Sugar Production, Kenana Says

Sudan plans to more than triple sugar output within three years after prices for the sweetener rose to a record, according to Kenana Sugar Co., the country’s biggest producer.

Plants under construction will take output to more than 3 million metric tons from 900,000 tons now, Managing Director Mohamed El Mardi said in an interview in Khartoum on Sept. 8. Kenana will lift its refined supply by about 40 percent to more than 600,000 tons in the crop year ending April 2010, he said.

Prices have gained on speculation that India, the biggest consumer, will boost imports and as rains delay the harvest in Brazil, the biggest grower. Demand will outpace supply for a second consecutive year in 2009-10, with a likely shortfall of 9 million tons, London-based Czarnikow Group Ltd. said this month.

“Sudan has an important role to play, with the potentials we have in land, water, climate, to come in and fill in the world gap in sugar production,” El Mardi said.

Raw-sugar prices in New York rose 98 percent this year while refined sugar advanced 77 percent in London.

Kenana, established in 1982, is based about 150 miles south of Khartoum on the eastern bank of the White Nile. It is 34 percent-owned by the Sudanese government, with the Kuwait Investment Authority holding 30 percent and the Saudi Arabian government 12 percent, according to El Mardi.

Kenana and Beltone Private Equity of Egypt in August agreed to start an agricultural company investing as much as $1 billion in the Middle East and North Africa.

The new company will seek investors from next month and “we expect to start the first project in six months,” El Mardi said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maram Mazen in Khartoum via Cairo newsroom mmazen@bloomberg.net. Alaa Shahine in Cairo atasalha@bloomberg.net

Beltone Private Equity teams up with Kenana Sugar Co., to invest up to $1bn in projects in Egypt and Sudan

Beltone Private Equity, the private equity arm of Egypt’s Belton Financial investment bank, has teamed up with Khartoum-based Kenana Sugar Company to invest up to $1bn in large-scale infrastructure projects in Egypt and Sudan, according to reports.

Hazem Barakat, CEO of Beltone Private Equity, said in a statement that Beltone would provide extensive investment management, corporate finance, and strategic capabilities.

Kenana will provide technical expertise for the venture.

Kenana’s biggest investors are the Sudanese government, the Kuwait Investment Authority and the government of Saudi Arabia. The company was established in 1975, claims to be one of the world’s largest integrated sugar companies located on the eastern bank of the White Nile. Kenana produces 400,000 tonnes of sugar per year.

Beltone Private Equity was established in 2006. As of end October 2008, the company reported over EGP1.5bn ($271m) in assets under management in a diverse range of investments.

Source: AltAssets, 21 Aug 2009 - Egyptian private equity firm teams up with sugar company to create fund

Egypt signs USD 2.3bn oil agreements

ISI - Emerging Markets - ‎47 minutes ago‎

The company's farms span over 200000 feddans in Sudan . Beltone Private Equity had over EGP 1.5bn (USD 270mn) in assets under management at the end of ...

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Click on label here below to view previous reports and updates.

Sudan's huge White Nile Sugar Project

Sudan's huge White Nile Project involves the creation of another large scale sugar growing and refining operation, north of the original Kenana site. It is a colossal civil engineering project bringing together the specialist skills of companies from around the world. Read more at the website of Kenana Sugar Company.
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From Sudan Online, Sunday 09 Aug 2009:
Steam Boilers to be installed at site of White Nile Sugar Projects to produce 104 Megawatts

The installation of the first steam boiler at the site of the White Nile Sugar Project has begun Saturday [08 Aug 09] as part of the plan to install 4 steam boilers to produce 104 Megawatt at the cost of 48 million Euros to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.

In this connection, Director of White Nile Sugar Project Hassan Abdul Rahman Satti addressed the installation occasion explaining that the power that would be generated from these steam boilers will cover the demands of the Sugar Factory, the irrigation projects as well as the residential areas at the site of the project, saying that the surplus will be exported to the national electricity network.

He revealed that the White Nile Sugar project aims at producing some 450,000 tones of white Sugar as well as 100 million liters of Ethanol and 1.5 million tones of processed fodders, explaining that the total cultivated areas of the project are 150,000 feddans (Acres).

Satti explained that the project is funded by the Government of Sudan, Kenana Sugar Company, the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development as well as the Central Bank and number of local commercial banks.

He revealed existence of loan agreements with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, OPEC, Saudi Development Fund, Islamic Development Fund and Abu Dhabi Development Fund.

Satti also explained that a regional purse was established to fund a developmental project at the site of the project with 100 million Dollars in which the Bank of Khartoum has contributed in this purse.   Source: SUNA

Click on Ethanol label here below for related news.

Sudan to produce ethanol from sugar cane

Sudan inaugurates biofuel plant

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Sudan will begin producing ethanol from sugar cane with a target of 200 million litres in two years, President Omar al-Beshir said on Wednesday at the inauguration of a new plant.

State company Kenana, which already makes sugar and molasses, will run the project, Beshir said in a speech to thousands of people assembled at the ethanol plant in White Nile State.

Production from the plant is forecast to reach 200 million litres (52 million US gallons) in two years, Beshir said.

"Sudan will support the development of the White Nile State and all of Sudan," he said.

The factory, which lies about 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of Khartoum, was built by Brazilian group Dedini. Brazil is the second largest producer of ethanol after the United States, but it is the biggest exporter of biofuels.

South Africa began making ethanol from corn in 2006, but production was slashed after the world food crisis, with officials deciding that corn could be better used for food.

Ethanol has become an increasingly attractive alternative for oil after the rise of crude prices, but production of the fuel was seen as a major contributor to global food prices.