By David Brough
LONDON: Iraq is increasingly importing raw sugar instead of whites as the new Etihad refinery has ramped up production faster than expected, European trade sources said on Monday.
They estimated that the refinery in Babylon, south of Baghdad, which serves the domestic market, had imported around 375,000 tonnes of Brazilian raw sugar in the past six months after opening earlier this year.
On an annualised basis, that would represent more than half of Iraq's estimated consumption of 1.1 million tonnes a year, previously met by imported white sugar.
"The Etihad is the big refining success story in the Middle East," one senior trader said.
Another trader said the refinery, owned by Etihad Food Industries, had had fewer technical problems than typical for new plants.
"It seems to be operating surprisingly well," the trader said. "Most refineries have huge teething problems but this one is working very well."
Now, the facility was believed to be operating at around two-thirds of its total capacity of 3,000 tonnes a day.
European trade sources said Dubai's Al Khaleej refinery which had been a major supplier of white sugar to Iraq, was now stepping up sales to other markets, such as Sudan and the Horn
of Africa.
Traders said the Etihad refinery had the potential to serve the bulk of the domestic Iraqi market, but some white sugar imports to Iraq were likely to remain.
Reuters
