Dangote Sugar, FMN Call BUA Foods ‘Corporate Liar‘
Dangote Sugar Refinery, Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc have expressed concerns over BUA Foods Plc alleged misinformation on deliberate hoarding of sugar amidst scarcity in order to raise the price.
Both companies, as members of sugar oligarchs in Nigeria, said information released by BUA Foods that Dangote Sugar Refinery and Golden Sugar, a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria, are the cause of artificial scarcity is not true.
In a rebuttal, Dangote Sugar Refinery considers that this behaviour exhibited by BUA is worrisome and appears to conflict with the anti-competition rules.
In compliance with the requirements of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, Dangote Sugar Refinery said the company strongly refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety.
In what appears to have raised the company’s reaction to the ‘hoarding’ statement credited to BUA, the management said these false allegations may mislead the market and may give an undue competitive edge to BUA.
In the same manner, Golden Sugar, a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria said the assertion by BUA Foods on the supposed suspension of its sugar sales 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.
“We wish to reassure our valued 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”, Flour Mills of Nigeria added.
Expressing dismay, Dangote Sugar said 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.
The company said in response to this, it publish a press release 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”, the sugar company said.
“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”..
It said Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc. remains the highest Sugar supplier in the market today, with over 1.44m MT installed capacity at our Apapa Refinery and we are the only company producing sugar from own grown sugarcane under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) at the Numan operations in Yola, Adamawa State.
With a total landmass of over 21,000 hectares, including a world-class sugar refinery, Flour Mills of Nigeria said it continued to expand operations at Sunti Golden Sugar Estate.
This includes an additional 300 million USD in Nasarawa state and a commitment to investing another 70 billion over the next three years to develop the upland area of the Sunti Sugar Estate. Read: BUA Foods Explains Fundamentals Driving Shares Demand
“This will further cement our commitment to Nigeria’s vision of self-sufficiency in sugar production and complement the Federal Government’s commitment to economic diversification, food security, and the transition to a more sustainable economy”, Flour Mills of Nigeria said.
FMN said the company 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.
“We remain committed to fair play and good governance and would continue to supply Sugar to the market without interruptions”, Dangote Sugar added. #Dangote Sugar, FMN Call BUA Foods ‘Corporate Liar’
