TheCable

Nigeria’s biggest miller by market share, Flour Mills of Nigeria has announced a disruption in operations at its Sunti golden sugar estates in the wake of long and massive rainfalls recorded in the northern and central parts of the Niger basin.

Flour Mills of Nigeria in a notice sent to the nation’s bourse said the sugar estate has suffered some delays in its expansion project to increase area under cultivation to 4,000 hectares by mid 2021.

“The actual state of damage to the current sugarcane crop at Sunti, can only be accessed after the flood subsides,” the statement said.

The company noted that the resulting high inflows in the downstream River Niger, have caused a breach to the extensive and properly designed dyke systems at the sugar estate, noting that the management of the sugar estate is in constant communication with the national control center and Mainstrean energy solutions operators of Kanji and Jebba reservoirs.

Sunti Golden Sugar Estate, located on the banks of River Niger, in Mokwa, Niger state,  is owned by Sunti Golden Sugar Estates (SGSE) Ltd. a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.

The sugar estate features 17, 000 hectares of irrigable farmland and a Sugar mill that process 4,500 metric tons of sugarcane per day. At full capacity, the estate is expected to produce 1 Million tons of Sugarcane which roughly translates into 100,000 metric tons of sugar yearly.

Shares of the miller traded at N21.50 on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange at the close of trading on Friday