Sunday, Nov 19, 2006
CAIRO (Zawya Dow Jones)--Delta Sugar Co., Egypt's largest sugar beet producer, said Sunday that it has agreed in an extraordinary general assembly to raise its authorized capital to 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($175.3 million) from EGP600 million.
A statement posted on the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges Web site said that the company's issued and paid up capital would also increase to EGP618.25 million from the current EGP368.25 million.
The increase will take place through a distribution of bonus shares and not through an offering, the statement said.
Delta Sugar is currently is in negotiations with the U.A.E. government to build a new sugar beet factory in the governorate of Sharkiya.
The U.A.E owns the land plot stretching over 300 feddans (1 feddan = 1.038 acres or 0.42 hectares) on which Delta Sugar intends to establish the factory.
Delta Sugar, which has an estimated output of 200,000 tons of white sugar and 100,000 tons of beet molasses and beet pulp a year, is planning the new factory as part of Egypt's planned shift from sugar cane production to beets.
Egypt produced 1.2 million tons of sugar from cane in 2005, compared with only 450,000 tons of beet sugar. Its new strategy to move towards self-sufficiency aims at increasing beet sugar production which uses less water and is easier to harvest.
Egypt produces around 1.5 million tons of sugar a year, but consumes 2.4 million tons. It imports around 1 million tons of sugar a year.
-By Maha El Dahan, Dow Jones Newswires, +201 2226 7850, mahaeldahan@yahoo.com
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-19-06 0559ET
