Al Nouran Holdings, an Egyptian sugar trader, won approval from the Industrial Development Authority to set up a 1-million-ton sugar plant in the northeast of the country, the company’s Chief Executive Officer said.
“We have obtained all the licenses,” Ashraf Mahmoud said. “Now, we’re just waiting to finalize the loan.”
Construction of the hybrid beet-sugar mill and raw sugar refinery will begin by November this year and production at the facility is due to start in 2013, Mahmoud, who’s also the company’s chairman, told Bloomberg.
The estimated cost of the plant is LE 1.9 billion ($334.5 million), of which 65 percent will come from a syndicated loan led by National Societe Generale Bank SAE and 35 percent through self-financing, Mahmoud said.
The plant will use beet for almost half of its output, with 500,000 metric tons of sugar capacity in 2013, and 500,000 of capacity added in 2015, Mahmoud said.
Mahmoud expects sugar demand to increase by 60,000 tons a year.
The company is planning to sell between 20 percent and 30 percent to the public in 2015 and list the shares on the Egyptian Exchange, Mahmoud added. –Bloomberg
