Zambia's biggest sugar company has spent 26 billion kwacha (8.125 million U.S. dollars this year on factory rehabilitation, according to the Times of Zambia newspaper on Monday.

Paul De Robillard, the managing director of Zambia Sugar, was quoted as saying at the weekend in southern Zambia that " rehabilitating a mill plant requires a colossal amount of money especially that we have reached a new level of improvement."

He said that the company is expected to produce 260 tons of sugar this year from 247 tons of 2005.

"We will meet this year's target because we have expanded and four more new sugar cane growers will supply cane to us," he said.

Another official of the company said the local market is uncertain because of sugar imports from Zimbabwe.

Local sugar consumption is estimated at about 120 tons to 150 tons a year, he said.

"We will look to the region and the European Union for the surplus that will not be consumed by the local market," he said.

Zambia Sugar is also expected to spend 17 billion kwacha (5.31 million dollars) on expansion in the next five years.

Source: Xinhua