The Fiji Sugar Corporation has secured a new buyer for our sugar, Fiji Sugar Corporation executive chairman, Abdul Khan, confirmed this.
The new buyer ED & F Man is based out of London where 32,000 tonnes of raw sugar is expected to be exported.
Mr Khan said the contract is for only one shipment at this stage and the lifting or the loading will be done out of Labasa and Lautoka at the end of November.
“It’s up to the buyer where he sends the sugar but we as the seller have a contract with the buyer and the buyer pays us,” he said.
Mr Khan said the new market was a big plus for the Fiji Sugar Corporation.
“It is definitely crucial for FSC to be branching out to other markets but on the same token we have got to ensure that we get the best value for money,” he said.
“But European Union is still happy to take our sugar, we get good price for it, we should not ignore that market.
“In terms of market price and what we get paid, we are getting a good 25-28 per cent above what the world market price is.”
Mr Khan confirmed they are looking to export raw sugar into Romania, Spain and even Italy as well.
He added Tate and Tyle Sugars and a Korean Company will also be purchasing sugar.

Labasa FSC mill
Mr Khan said: “For this crushing season Labasa FSC mill produced just under 80,000 tonnes of sugar and nearly all of this sugar will be shipped out.
“Along with this shipment sugar from other mills will also be collected to be shipped out to add a total of 32,000 tonnes of sugar for the coming shipment,” he explained.
Currently the ship was scheduled to be in Labasa and Lautoka around November 20 to 30. However, the next shipment for this year will be around December 20.

Targets
Mr Khan said for the year 2015 they intend to export up to 185,000 tonnes of raw sugar.
“Taking into account the shipping schedule, we are exporting approximately the same amount of sugar this year compared to 2014,” Mr Khan said.
He said the export from Labasa FSC mill would earn around $60 million for this year.