Economy
Dangote Sugar Targets Production of 170,000 Tonnes
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mr Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that next season, the sugar miller plans to increase its production to over 170,000 tonnes.
He said this at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the organisation recently.
“We should be able to produce over 170,000 tonnes which are by far, in the history of Nigeria, the highest to be produced locally,” the businessman said while addressing shareholders at the event.
It was observed that despite the economic headwinds that characterised 2022, the company put smiles on the faces of investors by paying N18.22 billion as dividends for the year ended December 31, 2022, translating to N1.50 kobo per share held by shareholders.
“The shareholders are pleased with the way we have been running their company and also in re-investing the profit into the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the sugar industry.
“We are going to play our part in ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in sugar within a very short period. We are not the only players, but we will surely play our part,” Mr Dangote said.
The Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, Mrs Adebisi Bakare, while speaking for the shareholders, expressed their satisfaction with the performance of the company, noting that despite all the encumbrances in the sugar sub-sector of the economy, the company still performed far and above the previous year.
She urged the board and the management to continue in the direction they have taken to get the company to the current winning, assuring that the management has the support of the shareholders to post even better performance in the coming years.
Last year, Dangote Sugar recorded an impressive turnover of N403 billion, a 46 per cent increase over N276 billion recorded during the same period in the year before, and posted a Profit before Tax (PBT) of N82 billion.
Mr Dangote attributed the remarkable performance to the pragmatic approach the management deployed by focusing on continued cost and process optimisation, improved efficiencies in every area of operations, and service delivery to our customers.
He pledged that the management would continue to implement strategic actions to sustain the performance with the support of all stakeholders with complete adherence to the tenets of the federal government’s Sugar Master Plan.
The billionaire said part of the success recorded by Dangote Sugar was made possible by the management’s continued implementation of the Dangote Sugar Development Master Plan with the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Dangote Sugar Refinery’s Numan operations, facilities and land development, as well as the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, the greenfield sugar project, and Tunga in Nasarawa State.
“Concerted efforts were made during the year to rise above the various challenges that came about due to the COVID–19 lockdown, which affected project timelines considerably and continued to generally impact economic activities due to its spill-over effect, which also led to the lack of forex to finance most of the project deliverables.
“We, however, continued to surge ahead supported by the various stakeholders in the industry and government parastatals, with the resolve to ensure that the goals of the Nigeria Sugar Development Master Plan are achieved,” he added.
The company Chairman noted that during the year under review, the first phase of the Sugar Master Plan implementation period came to an end and that the Federal Government approved the second phase over the next 10 years.
“This extension came on the back of the review of the first phase by the National Sugar Development Council and other government parastatals with cognisance of the challenges and several circumstances that were unforeseen which riddled the first phase of the programme,” he added.
Mr Dangote stated that the board and management were, however, focused on the achievement of the goals of the strategic initiative, and thus considerable progress was recorded in the project development, despite the numerous challenges faced.
Not minding the obstacles ahead, Dangote promised that the management would continue to create sustainable value for all stakeholders through an inclusive approach to growth and development, with continuous engagement with all parties, to enable the company to make a positive impact, support poverty eradication and food security, infrastructure development, empowerment for members of the immediate communities, and the society at large.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the first cargo of the new Obodo crude blend has been shipped.
Business Post gathered that the first cargo could be headed for the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
In a statement by the chief executive of NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Conoil Producing Limited was congratulated on the successful shipment of the first cargo of the Obodo crude blend.
Mr Komolafe said this development marks a significant milestone for Nigeria’s upstream sector, demonstrating the growing capacity of indigenous operators to contribute meaningfully to national crude oil production and exports.
“The introduction of the Obodo crude blend further diversifies Nigeria’s export portfolio and aligns with the commission’s strategic objectives to enhance production output, maximise hydrocarbon resources, and attract investment through operational efficiency and innovation,” he said.
Mr Komolafe maintained that this achievement by Conoil, under the production sharing contract framework with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, also reflects the positive outcomes of collaborative regulatory support, enabling indigenous players to thrive.
“As the regulator of Nigeria’s upstream petroleum industry, the NUPRC remains committed to providing a transparent, predictable, and investment-friendly environment that encourages the development of new crude streams and ensures optimal value for the Nigerian people.
“We look forward to more milestones of this nature that advance national energy security and economic resilience,” he said.
According to tracking data from Kpler, the Suezmax Atlanta Spirit loaded on April 25 from the floating production, storage and offloading vessel Tamara Tokoni.
Obodo has a gravity of 27.65°API and a very low sulphur content of 0.05pc, according to Argus.
Obodo joins the list of crude grades launched by Nigeria in the last year.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) restarted production of similar-quality Utapate in 2024 and launched Nembe a year earlier.
Obodo could find favour with European refineries, as Nigerian medium sweet grades — including Forcados, Escravos and Bonga — have gone predominantly to Europe, the largest market for the country’s crude.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Oil Refinery has reportedly cancelled planned maintenance on its 204,000 barrels per day petrol-producing unit for June.
This comes as the $20 billion structure has carried out the necessary work during an unplanned shutdown from April 7 to May 11, according to industry tracker, IIR.
Dangote Refinery had originally scheduled a 30-day maintenance shutdown in June for its gasoline-producing Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit.
The refinery has since pushed back on reports of the unit being under unplanned repair, stating that such claims are not entirely accurate.
According to data from shipping analytics firm, Kpler, during the unplanned outage, the refinery ramped up exports of residual products such as straight run fuel oil, while shipments of finished fuels like jet fuel and gasoil declined.
The 650,000 barrels per day refinery, built by Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, began producing diesel, naphtha, and jet fuel in January last year, followed by petrol production in September.
Dangote refinery could potentially end the long-standing gasoline trade from Europe to Africa, which is valued at $17 billion annually.
Already, the refinery has triggered a spate of changes in fuel prices locally with back to back cuts down to N825 per litre earlier this week from N835 previously sold.
The refinery, however, has not been able to operate at its optimal level due to challenges around feedstock. So far, in addition to local crude acquisition, it has bought crude from the US, Brazil, Angola, and Algeria.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose further by 1.02 per cent on Tuesday, May 13, buoying the market capitalisation by N19.77 billion to close at N1.967 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.947 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 33.77 points to finish at 3,359.79 points, in contrast to the 3,326.06 points reported a day earlier.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc increased during the trading session by N2.35 to N27.20 per share from N24.85 per share, NASD Plc added N1.90 to close at N20.90 per unit compared with the previous day’s N19.00 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 87 Kobo to close at N41.30 per share versus the previous closing value of N40.43 per share, Mixta Real Estate Plc climbed higher by 51 Kobo to end at N5.51 per unit compared with Monday’s price of N5.00 per unit, and AG Mortgage Bank Plc appreciated by 5 Kobo to settle at 58 Kobo per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s 53 Kobo per share.
The level of activity was higher yesterday, with the volume of securities transacted going up by 61,474.7 per cent to 414.5 million units from the 673,233 units traded in the previous trading day, the value of trades jumped by 16,714.4 per cent to N1.05 billion from N6.3 million, but the number of deals fell by 28.6 per cent to 25 deals from 35 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 266.3 million units sold for N470.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Okitipupa Plc also remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 20.2 million units valued at N770.6 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million.
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