Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly chaired a meeting Monday at the Cabinet headquarters in New Alamein City in Egypt’s North Coast, to follow up on efforts to develop sugar industry in Egypt.
Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Sherif Farouk and Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Alaa el-Din Farouk, along with senior industry and agriculture officials took part in the meeting.
Cabinet Spokesman Mohamed el-Homsani said the meeting addressed ongoing efforts to develop Egypt’s sugar industry, enhance local production and reduce reliance on imports in order to ensure stable availability of sugar in the local market, especially in light of global supply chain challenges.
The meeting also reviewed main pillars of the government’s strategy for expanding sugar production, particularly with the increase in cultivated areas of sugar beet within sectors affiliated with the Future of Egypt Sustainable Development Authority, the spokesman added.
Moreover, the development of a number of industries related to sugar production and opportunities to maximize the benefits from these industries and their products were discussed, Homsani added.
Efforts to implement environmental sanitation plans across sugar factories in Egypt, in line with applicable environmental standards and the necessary measures to ensure sustainability within these factories also figured high during the meeting, he said. The meeting also tackled challenges facing these factories and future plans for modernization and expansion, the spokesman noted.
During the meeting, Executive Managing Director of the Sugar and Integrated Industries Company Salah Fathi gave a presentation on the company’s capabilities and its factories for producing sugar from both sugarcane and sugar beet. Fathi said the company owns eight sugar factories that process sugarcane in the governorates of Minya, Sohag, Qena, Luxor and Aswan.
Moreover, the company operates an integrated industrial complex in Giza that includes sugar refining from both cane and beet, as well as chemical manufacturing, distillation, perfume and extract production, food industries, and the manufacturing of machines and equipment for producing paper and wood from cane residues, said the Company’s executive managing director.
Fathi reviewed the company’s sugar production volume and the capabilities of the existing factories in utilizing sugarcane and beet byproducts – including molasses, bagasse, animal feed and other related industries.
He said the company produces ethanol, fresh and dry yeast, bio-fertilizers, food-grade carbon dioxide gas, natural vinegar, folic acid, organic solvents, inverted sugar syrup, animal feed, organic fertilizers, as well as energy (fuel), particleboard, pulp and paper, MDF wood, and more products.
The company presented its vision to increase the yield per acre of sugarcane and reach maximum capacity for its factories in order to meet the state’s sugar needs. The presentation included ways to increase farmers’ financial returns and a proposal to maximize investment returns from sugar production factories.
