Government
is opposed to the proposal to export unprocessed raw materials such as sugar
canes.
The Trade, industry and Cooperatives Minister, Amelia Kyambadde stated this
while presenting a statement to parliament on the issue of excess sugar cane in
Busoga Sub-region.
Kyambadde told the House that the government discourages unprocessed
exports so as to promote industrial growth through value addition.
She argued that although Busoga sub region has recorded 500,000 tons
of excess sugar cane in the last two months, the existing sugar millers
can process all the mature canes.
The excess supply was because the large sugar millers- Sugar Corporation of
Uganda Limited (SCOUL) and Kakira Sugar shut down their factories for the
routine annual maintenance last month.
To make matters worse, Mayuge Sugar, Kamuli and G.M Sugar Ltd factories
reported machine breakdowns, which have left farmers mulling the option of
exporting their sugar canes to Kenya.
On average, the six sugar milling companies in Busoga have installed capacity
of crushing between 1,000 to 7,000 tons of sugar cane daily.
From the 20 licensed companies, about 650 million metric tonnes of sugar cane
is milled to produce 600,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually.
However, Kyambadde says that between 2014 and 2018, the factories have been
milling about 430 million metric tonnes of sugar cane and producing 410,000
metric tonnes of sugar annually.
She says that since 2014, sugar production has been declining “due to lack
of sugar cane supply to the sugar mills amidst increased installed
capacities.
According to Kyambadde, both the millers and farmers will make losses because
experts recommend that harvested sugar cane must be processed within 36 hours
otherwise the weight of the canes deteriorates the longer it stays unprocessed.
Her statement stems from a proposal by Busoga sugar cane out growers asking
government to issue the permits to export sugar cane to sugar millers in
neighboring Kenya. The out growers claim that the low demand from the sugar
millers could affect their sugarcane, which have gone beyond the 18-month
maturity period.
The Bugabula West MP, Henry Kibalya and Bunya South MP, Robert Ntende presented
the outgrowers’ proposal to the House on Tuesday. To ensure
that the problem of excess sugar cane supply does not arise in the
future, Kyambadde says millers shouldn’t undertake maintenance at the same
time.
However, the Bulamogi County MP, Kenneth Lubogo disagrees that the exporting
sugar canes will cause scarcity in Uganda. He argues that the sugar milling
factories lack the capacity to crush all the excess cane.
Kyambadde has pledged to present a more comprehensive statement to the House on
how the sugar mills will address the issue of excess sugar cane.
On Wednesday, the Chairman of the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association, Jim
Kabeho downplayed the outcry on low sugar production, saying that the
situation will normalize in two weeks’ time when all the six factories in
Busoga resume operations.
-URN
