Money to upgrade and buy new mill equipment
By RACHNA LAL
Fiji Sugar Corporation executive chairman, Abdul Khan, left the country for India yesterday to receive part of the balance from the EXIM Bank of India loan facility for mill upgrading.
Mr Khan said he will receive US$2.75 million in one block and US$5.3 million in another bringing the total sum to US$8.05 million (FJ$15.12 million).
“Basically, this money will be used for maintenance of mill equipment and buying of new mill equipment to further improve our sugar extraction,” he said.
“So what we have to do is sign the contract and get the equipment here in the maintenance season to have it all finished.
“They have now approved that balance and what we are doing at the moment is we have got contracts in place utilising that money.”
Mr Khan is expected to sign the deal in the next couple of days.
“I just need to check the technicalities are all good and we need to ensure the timeline is ok for us so that we can have the maintenance done for the next season,” he said.
The Fiji Sugar Corporation usually has six months to carry out maintenance work before the sugarcane crushing season begins.
Two separate sums
Mr Khan said the reason for two separate sums is because one block is from the balance of the facility and the other is the principle amount which had been repaid.
“The US$2.75 million is the balance of the EXIM Bank of India’s facility of US$50 million and the US$5.3m is the principle which we had already paid back,” he said.
Mr Khan said the repaid amount was a result of the fact that although the mills were not working up to the standard after the initial upgrade, the corporation never defaulted in terms of repayment of the loan facility.
Benefits of the upgrade
Mr Khan said Government initiative for the restructure of the sugarcane industry means the Fiji Sugar Corporation has to embark on the continuous improvement programme.
“As the years go past, we are continuously improving our mills in terms of reliability, the ability to expect maximum sugar and to avoid waste,” he said.
“Some of the work which was done during the initial mill upgrade was not up to the required standard so we have to look at that,” he said.
“What we are looking for is saying we need to continuously improve our mills.”
Mr Khan said he would not be able to give any figures for next year at this stage.
“What will be the figures next year – I do not know but as we get closer to the harvesting season and see how the crops are like, then I can say something,” he said.
The full loan from the EXIM Bank of India is expected to be paid back in 10 years after the moratorium period has expired.
Mr Khan had earlier confirmed the interest rate on the original loan was just under two per cent per annum.
Fiji Sugar Corporation executive chairman, Abdul Khan (right), who left the country for India yesterday to sign a draw of approximately $15 million to upgrade the mills here and buy new mill equipment.