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Business Reporter
Hippo Valley Estates says its sugar production for the upcoming 2023/24 season will be marginally above levels achieved in the 2022/23 season after the company suffered a drop in output for the nine months ended December 31, 2022.
Mr Canaan Dube, the company’s chairman said during the period, the sugar industry’s output was up 2 percent.
Total cane milled by the company increased by 3 percent during the period under review. “However, one of the company’s two production lines malfunctioned in November 2022, forcing an early shutdown of the line for the remainder of the season.
“As a result, 27 001 tonnes of cane had to be diverted to the Triangle sugar mill for crushing,” he said in a trading update.
He added that despite an overall increase in cane supplies, the milling plants’ output of sugar decreased.
“This resulted from lower cane quality attributable to prolonged wetness arising from rains received at the onset of the season that had an adverse impact on cane quality,” said Mr Dube.
He noted that the wet weather in December 2022 also impacted the quality of cane harvested as significant rainfall was received during the month.
Rainfall hinders both the harvesting and hauling of burnt cane to the mills resulting in the cane remaining in the fields for extended periods and leading to reduced sugar content.
Mr Dube said the company expected the off-crop maintenance programme, which started in December 2022, to be finished before the start of the 2023-24 season in April 2023.
“The focus of this annual maintenance is to minimise breakdowns and improve mill efficiencies during the crushing period,” it said.
For the period under review, the company had a 52,26 percent share of the 397 055 tonnes of sugar sold overall by the industry.
Industry sugar sales into the local market totalled 278 106 tonnes and were 3 percent less than the comparative period.
“The decline arose from increased competition from sugar imports after the government suspended import duty through SI98 on 16 basic commodities including sugar,” Mr Dube said.
He said revenue realisations on the local market, in both local and foreign currency, remained firm as most customers continued to support local brands against the imports that were available in the local market from May to December 2022.
Export sales volumes increased by 27 percent to 40 246 tonnes.
“Efforts are underway to expand the regional export market base so as to reduce the market concentration risk,” he said.
According to Mr Dube, the company is collaborating closely with the Government to put the memorandum of understanding for how to advance the US$40 million Kilimanjaro Project as part of socioeconomic empowerment into action.
He said the group continued to provide input and extension support to over 1 000 farmers operating on approximately 20 000 hectares.
“A rigorous training programme is currently running where farmer supervisors are taken through sugarcane crop production courses covering irrigation water application and scheduling, crop protection and crop nutrition.
“A new course on farm management was introduced and will be rolled out beginning in March 2023,” said Mr Dube.
He indicated the co-management programme through which the company continues to partner some private farmers by co-managing their previously underperforming farms, is in progress and bearing significant results on the sugarcane yields.
He added that technical and extension services to the private farmers, continues on a number of new sugar-cane development projects for the benefit of the local community.
Mr Dube said irrigation water cover for approximately two seasons at normal water duty is secured within the industry’s water supply dams. Latest national and regional weather forecasts indicate normal and above normal rainfall which will further strengthen the industry’s security of irrigation water.
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