SugarCo is the name given to a newly formed state-owned holding company that focuses on the sugar industry, aiming to reduce the country’s dependency on sugar imports by improving production.
ugarCo is the name given to a newly formed state-owned sugar processing holding company, aimed at raising domestic production to minimize household sugar imports over the long term.
National plantation holding firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara III (PTPN III) established SugarCo, officially named PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara, on Aug. 17 by placing 35 sugar factories – previously owned by seven PTPN III subsidiaries – under the new company.
The government appointed PTPN III as the holding entity for 13 PTPN sister companies in 2014. The companies, which claimed combined assets of Rp 69.3 trillion (US$4.86 billion) during their merger, vary in product offering and operating area.
Read also: PTPN III named as holding firm for state plantations
“The President supports the forming of SugarCo. The new company would increase production, improve farmers’ welfare and stabilize [domestic] sugar prices,” PTPN III president director Muhammad Abdul Gani told lawmakers during a hearing with the House of Representatives on Monday.
He added that SugarCo would be responsible for processing all of PTPN III sugarcane.
Indonesia used to be the world’s second-biggest sugar exporter after Cuba back in the 1930s, when the Southeast Asian country was under colonial rule, but has become one of the world’s top five sugar importers in the past decade.
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