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Uganda's 2018 Sugar Output May Rise 17% on Top 3 Producers

Uganda's 2018 Sugar Output May Rise 17% on Top 3 Producers

(Bloomberg) -- Uganda’s sugar output may climb 17 percent this year to 428,000 metric tons with three top producers expected to boost production, an industry lobby group said.

The forecast is a revision from an estimate of 388,000 tons in January and production of 365,452 tons in 2017, the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers’ Association said Tuesday in an emailed response to questions. Local consumption in the East African nation may rise to 370,000 tons from 360,000 tons in 2017, it said.

Kakira Sugar Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer and owned by the locally based Madhvani Group, may boost output of the sweetener to 140,000 tons from 123,156 tons a year earlier, it said.

Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd., a unit of the Kenyan-based Rai Group, is projected to raise output to 121,000 tons from 109,889 tons, while Sugar Corp. of Uganda Ltd., owned by the Mehta Group of India, could increase its crop 19 percent to 60,000 tons. The remainder will come from at least nine other companies, it said.

Growth in Uganda’s sugar production is stifled by the establishment of factories close to each other, resulting in competition for cane from independent farmers and the harvesting of premature cane with low yields, the lobby group said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Michael Gunn

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.