Illovo Malawi invests K1,5bn in sugar production

“This has coincided with the announcement from the European Union which has increased the exports of Malawi's annual sugar quota for this year by 7,5% from 20,000 tonnes to 21,500 tonnes,” he said.

Clark said the country's sole sugar company, which has two sugar production sites in the southern region at Nchalo and Dwangwa in the central region, would take advantage of the increased tonnage.

He said the company will eventually benefit from favourable changes within the global economy and for Malawi which exports about 28% of its sugar to EU countries.

Sugar took over from tea as the second forex earner for Malawi, after tobacco, in 2000 despite the fall in production in 2007/08.

Clark said from a tonnage of 290,000 in the 2006/07 season production plunged to 266,000 tonnes in 2007/08 season.

“This was due to the reduced cane production at Nchalo and a decline in sucrose content at both Nchalo and Dwangwa sugar estates,” he said.

But starting from this season, Clark said production is to increase by 10%.

“This would also materialise following further expansion of our Nchalo estates by 1,200 hectares,” he said adding that last year they increased production at Dwangwa site by 15%.

He said, in the just ended season, profit for the company exceeded K5bn for the first time.