eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Starafrica Corporation says it has resumed operations at its sugar refining plant at Goldstar Sugars (GSS) following a successful resolution of the pricing of raw sugar and trading terms with the supplier.
Goldstar, the country’s largest sugar producer, temporarily closed its refinery and sent employees on indefinite leave owing to a rise in raw sugar prices, a situation that made it difficult to continue operations.
Parent company, Starafrica Corporation went on to advise the company’s shareholders to trade under caution while it was engaged in discussions with its sole supplier of raw sugar, following a significant raw sugar price increase and untenable trading conditions.
“….is pleased to inform its stakeholders that the refinery at Goldstar Sugars (GSS) resumed operations on Sunday, 19 February 2023.
“This followed the successful resolution of the pricing of raw sugar and the trading terms thereon, between the company and the raw sugar supplier.“GSS has resumed the supply of granulated white sugar to the market and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a statement.
The company went on to withdraw its cautionary statement published in the media on 15 February 2023.“The Company is grateful for the support received from its stakeholders, including the regulatory authorities, during this challenging period and regrets any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of the refinery,” Starafrica said.
In a trading update recently, Starafrica said production of granulated white sugar at its refining plant Goldstar Sugars were 0,4 percent lower in the quarter to December 31, 2022 due to power and steam supply constraints.
The company said the constraints were the main causes of the marginally reduced throughput, as they negatively impacted plant uptime.
Starafrica indicated that prior to suspending the refinery operations, the business was already operating under untenable trading conditions that the supplier had imposed– Bloomberg
