Indonesia badly in need of four new sugar plants

Indonesia badly in need of four new sugar plants

Antara, Surabaya

Indonesia needs to build at least four new sugar plants in a bid
to help meet sugar demand of 3.4 million tons per annum, Adig
Suwandi, secretary-general of the Indonesian Sugar Experts
Association (Ikagi), said on Friday.

"Sugar experts are of the opinion that new sugar plants are
urgently needed to help local production to catch up with rising
demand, both for direct consumption and as raw material for
beverage and food industries, predicted within the next three to
five years," He said.

The new sugar plants should have had a capacity of producing
150,000 tons of sugar per year, he said.

Total investment for the construction of the four sugar plants
was projected to reach between US$120 million and $200 million,
including the opening of 20,000 to 25,000 hectares of sugar cane
plantations for each factory, he said.

Adig based his calculation on the fact that 54 existing sugar
plants in operation throughout the country were capable of
producing an average of only 2.9 million tons of sugar, thereby
forcing the country to import the remaining amount required.

By comparison, out of 3.4 million tons of sugar demand, 2.5
million tons consisted of white sugar for household consumption,
700,000 tons for food and beverage factories, while the rest was
for seasoning plants, he said.

"The demand for white sugar alone is predicted to jump to 3.5
million tons in 2008," Adig said.