Two major sugar producers, Flour Mills Of Nigeria Plc (FMN) and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc have debunked allegations by BUA Foods Plc of creating artificial scarcity of sugar amid decision to suspend sales.
BUA Foods had published a disclosure distancing the company from every arrangement to create artificial scarcity of sugar in the country.
Reacting BUA Foods claims Company Secretary, FMN, Umolu Joseph in a statement on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) said: “In reference to the publication in some dailies, the assertion by BUA Foods on the supposed suspension of sugar sales by FMN based on compliance issues is incorrect and indeed capable of creating a false impression in the market, which is contrary to the interest of consumers.”
He reassured customers and consumers across the country that FMN has no outstanding compliance issues with the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), as confirmed by the council’s latest raw sugar allocation for 2022.
“On the contrary, we have been adjudged as the best performing Backward Integration Program (BIP). As one of Nigeria’s leading foods and agro-allied groups, with over 61 years of operations in the food industry, we want to reassure Nigerians hat we understand that millions of Nigerian families trust us for our quality, nutritious, and affordable foods.
“To safeguard that trust, FMN will continue to expand its investments in backward integration and the sustainable development of the critical aspects of the food value chain, including Grains, Starch, Feeds and Proteins, Oils and Fats, and Sugar. To demonstrate our commitment to the success of the National Sugar Master Plan, we will continue to uphold the tenets of the National Sugar Master Plan and expand our investments for the sustainable development of the Sugar industry, ”he said.
Also, Company Secretary, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Mrs. Temitope Hassan in a statement on the NGX said: “In compliance with the requirements of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DSR wishes to strongly refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety as these false allegations may mislead the market and may give an undue competitive edge to BUA.
“We believe this behaviour exhibited by BUA is worrisome and appears to conflict with the anti-competition rules. Last year, just before the commencement of the Ramadan (the Islamic holy month of fasting), BUA made similar false allegations against the Company that it was engaged in ‘price-fixing’ and not honestly pursuing the Backward Integration Project.
“In response to this, we published a Press Release (published on the Issuers’ Portal on April 14, 2021) to refute the false allegations and made a formal complaint to the Anti-Competition Commission. “Another formal complaint was made to the Commission on February 14, 2022 and we await their actions to address the situation.
“In line with our plan, we have continued to supply Sugar to meet the market’s demand and have made the necessary supply chain and logistics investments/arrangements to ensure there are no risks to our ability to meet the current market demands.”
Hassan said Dangote Sugar Refinery remains the highest Sugar supplier in the market today, with over 1.44million metric tonnes installed capacity at our Apapa Refinery, stressing that Dangote Sugar Refinery is the only company producing sugar from its own grown sugarcane under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) at the Numan operations in Yola, Adamawa State.
