Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc has said its subsidiary, Golden Sugar Company Limited, is working to increase its sugar production capacity by 250,000 tonnes per annum.
The Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Agro-allied Division, FMN, Mr. Sadiq Usman, said the company remained committed to the Backward Integration Programme of the Federal Government.
He spoke during the visit of the members of the National Sugar Development Council to FMN’s sugar refinery in Apapa, Lagos, on Wednesday.
According to the Deputy General Manager, Golden Sugar Company, Mr. John Maniatis, the refinery has a production capacity of 750,000 tonnes per annum.
Usman, who is the director in charge of FMN’s backward integration program, said, “We signed up to BIP at Flour Mills of Nigeria through our subsidiary, Golden Sugar Company, in 2013 and in that space of time, I am pleased to say that we have identified a piece of land in Sunti in Niger State.
“We have developed a total of 3,000 hectares. We have built a sugar mill; we have built a sugar estate and the infrastructure that comes with that land. We have invested over N65bn in that, and we have invested another $200m in the refinery in Apapa.”
He added, “In terms of what our target is under the BIP, we are committed to about 250,000 tonnes of sugar per annum between our two sites, in Niger State and in Nasarawa, where we are also in the process of concluding arrangements to acquire another piece of land.”
According to Usman, the major challenge currently facing the company is foreign exchange due to COVID-19 and some of the other global issues regarding trade.
He said, “There are some issues of logistics and freight but these are more temporary challenges. The bigger challenge is making sure that we have the support of the government and all the players in the industry to ensure commitment to the new executive secretary of the National Sugar Development Council.
“That is the most important thing for us: to make sure that what government says is the agenda, it stands by it and the players in the industry, including us, stand by what we say we are going to do, and we get the necessary support.”
He also stressed the need for the rules of the game to be clear and transparent and followed by all the parties to ensure success.