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ACP sugar production is rising

04 October 2007

Press reports indicate that despite recent set backs in production due to freak rains Ethiopia plans to expand its sugar production to 600,000 tonnes from a current level of 260,000 tonnes by the end of 2007/08. Domestic sugar demand has increased by over 50% in recent years, and there are plans to expand sugar production to 1 million tonnes by 2011, providing enough sugar not only to meet domestic demand but also to expand exports.

According to the August 2007 SKIL monthly update there are also plans to expand Ugandan sugar production. New investment by a part-British-owned company Pro-Cana is also planned in a joint ethanol, sugar and fertiliser plant.

Barbados also plans a multifunctional mill to produce ethanol, electricity and speciality sugars which will require the area under sugar cane to expand from the 16,000 acres harvested last season to 32,000 acres.

Fiji meanwhile is seeking to expand cane production from 3 million tonnes to 4.2 million tonnes to serve a modernised mill designed to process sugar more efficiently.

Editorial comment

This expansion of ACP sugar production raises questions as to the compatibility of the proposed dual-trigger safeguard mechanism (a total of 3.5 million tonnes for the ACP/LDC exporters combined and 1.3 for non-LDC ACP sugar exporters) and the commitment to unlimited duty-free access for LDC exports, expansion in non-LDC sugar-protocol exports and expansion of exports for non-sugar-protocol ACP sugar exports. There are concerns amongst non-LDC sugar exporters that this simply does not add up and that within a nominal commitment to duty-free, quota-free access certain non-LDC sugar exporters could end up being allowed to export less sugar to the EU than they currently export.

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