Help at hand for black sugar producersApril 07, 2006

By Gershwin Wanneburg, Reuters, Cape Argus April 7, 2006; reported by: Papua New Guinea - Topix.net 2006-04-07 

Tsb Sugar is eyeing new foreign ventures and plans to plough more money into developing black growers as it seeks to boost its cane supply, its chief executive said on Thursday.

Tsb Sugar, which produces nearly a fifth of South Africa's average annual sugar output of 2.5 million tons, was launched into the international arena with the acquisition of Britain's Booker Tate in 2004.

That gave it a foothold in sugar operations in Belize, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Uganda and Papua New Guinea.

Last year Tsb Sugar bought a 26% stake in the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation in neighbouring Swaziland, adding to the 1% equity it gained through Booker Tate.

Tsb Sugar MD Hennie Snyman said Tsb Sugar saw the Swaziland investment as one with "fantastic potential" and was exploring other opportunities to grow its milling business.

"It's our policy to go into other countries. We investigate various countries ... before we invest, we will look at agricultural potential," he told reporters at Tsb Sugar's offices in Malalane, Mpumalanga.

He declined to name the countries being targeted but, when asked if any deals were close to being sealed, answered: "I think so." Snyman said Tsb Sugar - a subsidiary of investment holding firm Remgro - had been slow to raise its black economic empowerment (BEE) profile, but was carefully sifting through several candidates.
"We are busy with a process with BEE. We probably will have BEE partners within 12 months, maybe a little more," he said.

"We are talking to various BEE partners."

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the government has put pressure on various sectors to put more of their businesses in black hands through its BEE drive.

Tsb Sugar's achievement in that area has been largely limited to the sale of a 49% stake in its citrus business.

Snyman said Tsb Sugar was eager to help out black producers in other ways. Tsb Sugar says it spends R5 million rand a year on support to small-scale black farmers and Snyman said it hoped to invest more after a recent project involving a group of black farmers showed promising results.

Tsb Sugar helped seven small-scale black farmers who had each owned tracts of land about seven hectares in size acquire properties ranging between 35 and 50 hectares.

After a year, their yields per hectare are better than those of many veterans in the industry. - Reuters