S Alam Group to invest $400m to set up two more sugar refineries

• The two refineries are expected to be operational by 2025
• Each refinery targets to process 3,200 tonnes sugar per day
• Liquid sugar will be supplied to beverage and pharma companies
• S Alam Group refines 600,000 tonnes sugar annually in its Ctg mill

S Alam Group, one of the leading industrial groups in the country, plans to set up two more sugar refineries in Narayanganj and Chattogram with an investment of $400 million.

The new refineries will mostly produce liquid sugar for the industry and refined sugar will be exported as well, said the company officials.

The two refineries will jointly process 6,400 tonnes of sugar a day, 3,200 tonnes each, they informed.

"At present, we import sugar for beverages, juice and pharmaceutical products. We will produce the sugar in the new refineries. Besides, we will export sugar from there," Subrata Bhowmik, executive director of S Alam Group, told The Business Standard on Monday.

Currently, the country's third-largest market holder S Alam refines 600,000 tonnes of sugar annually in its existing factory in Chattogram.

One of the two proposed refineries will be constructed at Ichanagar in Azimpara union of Karnaphuli upazila in Chattogram and the other at Ganga Nagar in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj, he informed, adding that the two refineries are expected to be fully operational by 2025.

High-capacity magnetic separators will be used in the new projects to ensure purity of the product, said Subrata.

"In the two refineries, sugar will be packaged in 50 kg trading bags, 1000 kg commercial bags, one kg and half kg retail packet through a full automation system. Liquid sugar will be supplied to beverage and pharmaceutical companies," he said, adding that it will reduce production costs and mitigate transportation and storage risks.  

Akhtar Hasan, general manager of S Alam Group, told TBS that most of the investment in these projects will be made by foreign investors. He, however, declined to name investors at this moment.

These advanced refineries will use state-of-the-art equipment and technology from the US, Germany, France, UK, Sweden, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Thailand. This initiative would bring a revolution in the sugar refining industry in Bangladesh, said the company officials.

These proposed refineries will be run with safe purified water and a recent modern treatment plant based on reverse osmosis system. Besides, the latest modern carbonation system, membrane filler and Ion exchange resin will be used to remove hazardous sulfur and other toxic components, they added.

"The annual demand for sugar in the country is around 24 lakh tonnes. We expect that once started, the two refineries will play a significant role in supplying sugar to the consumers at an affordable price," said Akhtar.

Apart from the two refineries, S Alam Group has taken an initiative to establish two large refineries in the northern region [Rangpur and Dinajpur] and Faridpur. Sugarcane sourced from local farmers and raw materials manufactured in factories will be used there to manufacture and refine sugar.     

According to data from the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association (BSRA), six private companies, including City Group, Meghna Group, ACI Ltd, Deshbandhu Group, Abdul Monem Ltd refine and market sugar, outside of the 14 government sugar mills in the country.

Government companies have an annual production capacity of 1 lakh tonnes of sugar whereas the annual production capacity of private sugar mills is around 4.5 lakh tonnes.

Around 24 lakh tonnes of sugar were sold in the domestic market last year.