Mauritius 2009 sugar output rises, misses forecast
PORT LOUIS, (Reuters)
Sugar, a centuries-old pillar of the Indian Ocean island's $9 billion economy, accounts for roughly 3 percent of gross domestic product and is a major employer.
"Although 2009 sugar output is better than 2008, it is lower than initial forecasts of 475 000 tonnes because sugarcane plantations have been affected by poor weather conditions towards the end of 2009," said Jocelyn Kwok, the Chamber of Agriculture secretary general.
Mauritius produced 452,062 tonnes of sugar in 2008.
Mauritian sugar firms are seeking to widen their revenue sources after the European Union announced a graduated 36 percent cut in its guaranteed price for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar. The final tranche took effect last October.
The end of the EU's sugar protocol has seen the price of raw sugar fall to 336 euros ($456) per tonne compared with an original guaranteed price of 523.70 euros.
Mauritius, which has a population of 1.3 million is the leading sugar exporter from the African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc to the European Union.
Jacques d'Unienville, chief executive of Omnicane, a leading Mauritian sugar producer, told Reuters the company's new 6.3 billion rupee ($205.9 million) factory produced 150 000 tonnes of raw sugar in 2009.
Omnicane's factory produces sugar, energy and ethanol. It plans to invest a further 3.4 billion rupees during the next three years.
Hit by see-sawing global energy prices, the import dependent island aims to produce 40 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources within a decade.
In 2008, 19 percent of Mauritius' power came from burning bagasse, the waste generated when crushing sugar cane, giving it one of the world's highest ratios of renewable energy.
Omnicane said it had produced around 25 percent of the Indian Ocean island's total energy consumption in 2009 compared to 23 percent in 2008.
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