Sudan, struggling with an economic crisis and a budget deficit, plans to sell stakes in four state-owned sugar-processing plants, according to the official news agency Suna.
The country has been trying to increase its sugar output to offset the loss of most of its oil production, the main export product, to South Sudan after the secession of the South in 2011. Oil was the biggest source of state income and foreign currency for the unified state.
The state-owned Sudanese Sugar Company is looking for partners in the operation of its Guneid, Halfa, Sennar and Assalaya plants, its director Bakr Mahjub told Suna on Saturday, adding that the state would not completely withdraw from Sudanese Sugar.
The company is owned by the central bank and the Finance Ministry, according to its website.
The Guneid plant plans to increase its production to 115000t a year from 60000t under a 2010-2015 expansion plan, Suna said.
The Halfa plant would raise its output to 115000t a year from 75000t.
Sudan has been trying to improve the efficiency of Sudanese Sugar, which is much smaller than the country's main producer, Kenana Sugar Company, which is owned by the governments of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
Kenana plans to more than double its sugar output, to 1million tons, by 2015, it said last month.
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