Zambia Sugar breaks into Zim market
By Business Reporter
ZAMBIA Sugar has broken into the Zimbabwean market and will be exporting an initial 28,000 tonnes of sugar this year, company corporate affairs manager, Lovemore Sievu has said.
Mr Sievu told journalists who toured the company on Monday that Zambia Sugar had previously not been exporting sugar to Zimbabwe and that the development opened up a new opportunity for the company.
Zambia Sugar exports mainly to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes region, and the entry into the Zimbabwean market will enhance its growing penetration of the region.
“We have begun to export sugar to Zimbabwe. This is a new opportunity and we will be exporting 28,000 tonnes to that market this year,” he said.
Mr Sievu said the sugar that was going into Zimbabwe was raw with some molasses, just like consignments delivered to the EU, and the buyers were expected to further process the commodity.
Zambia Sugar exports a third of its sugar into the regional market while another third is exported to the EU, with the remainder being offloaded on the local market.
The expansion programme that the company undertook will see production levels rise from 200,000 to 450,000 tonnes of sugar per annum.
The company is also producing 30 megawatts of electricity for its plant and agricultural operations, although it is still connected to Zesco.
