By It appears the major war shaking up the Nigerian sugar industry is getting more fierce and intense, following Dangote’s decision to petition the Federal Government asking the Ministry of Trade to shut down BUA Group’s Sugar Refinery located in Port Harcourt.
Aliko Dangote, Chairman Dangote Industries Limited, in a letter dated 28th January 2021 signed by him, claimed that when the BUA Sugar refinery was opened, he warned the Government and they told him that no new refinery would be allowed to operate in Nigeria’.
The billionaire accused BUA of operating with impunity by contravening the laws as laid down in the National sugar policy by selling its products locally instead of producing for export alone.
However, BUA in its own defense sent to the Honourable Minister of Trade clarified issues, stressing that the law allows it to sell inside Nigeria. The company stated that because of the connivance of the two major sugar manufacturers to hike the price of Sugar during the Ramadan period, the law allows it to sell locally. BUA backed its claims attaching the enabling permits and approval.
BUA also warned that the DANGOTE group and the other major player have not been involved in any backward integration project, rather they depend on 80% raw sugar allocation which is detrimental to the Nigerian economy in long-term analysis. BUA on the other hand has been involved in a backward integration project with BUA’s Lafiagi Sugar BIP set to be completed in 2022.
The export-focused BUA sugar refinery is believed to have consumed over 250million dollars, employing over 1,000 Nigerians in the process.
Meanwhile, BUA also noted that at the center of this fight to force FG to close the BUA Sugar refinery down is the price war.
