OSRC awards $300m EPC contract for Oman’s first sugar refinery

Oman Sugar Refinery (OSRC) has signed a $300m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the China-based Sinolight Corporation to construct the country’s first sugar refinery in Sohar Freezone.

The new refinery is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2018, with construction work to begin in the third quarter.

The refinery, being built on an 18ha plot near Sohar port, will have a capacity of one million tonnes per annum, and will be equipped with the latest technology to produce the highest quality refined sugar.

Bosch Projects of South Africa will manage the contract on behalf of OSRC.

The region’s total consumption of sugar is currently 15 million tonnes annually. However, its refining capacity is eleven million tonnes, a shortage that is fulfilled through imports.

According to plans, OSRC will import raw sugar from different countries and refine it using different processes. The final refined white sugar will be sold as a branded product.

The Muscat Daily quoted OSRC CEO Ashwin Rana as saying that the company was still in the process of developing branding for its products.

The project is expected to create around 500 new jobs.

OSRC plans to meet the expenses of the project through both equity and debt. A part of the project will be funded by an institutional investor from China.

Out of the total production, the company intends to sell 35% in the domestic market, 40% in Gulf Cooperation Council, and the rest in Iran and Iraq.

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Image: The new sugar refinery will have a production capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum. Photo: courtesy of Mister GC/freedigitalphotos.net.