Hippo Valley battles to secure deal
BUSINESS REPORTER
Listed sugarcane producer Hippo Valley Estates Limited is battling to secure 99 year leases for the land it occupies, Business Times can report.
Hippo Valley and its sister company, Triangle Limited own cane fields stretching over 25 000 hectares and have been pushing for a lease document for the past few years.
But, in its trading update for the quarter to December 31, 2022, Hippo Valley Limited confirmed there was no progress in its negotiations with the government over the matter.
“During the quarter under review, there has not been much movement on the land tenure matters. The company continued to engage the Government with a view to bring finality to this,” the company said.
The development comes two years after government renewed the company’s sugar milling licence by another 20 years.
In the nine months to December 31, 2022, Hippo Valley Estates Limited reported a 13% increase in can deliveries from the company’s plantations compared to the same period in the previous year, driven by a 6% improvement in yields 97.98 tonnes cane per hectare resulting from improved control of yellow sugarcane aphid infestations through aerial spraying, as well as an increased area of cane harvested.
But, deliveries from private farmers went down 2% compared to prior year following a decision to carry over 234 hectares of cane to the 2023/24 season.
Management at Hippo Valley Estates now expects higher production levels in the forthcoming season.
“The company’s sugar production for the upcoming 2023/24 season is forecast to be marginally above levels achieved this season,” Hippo Valley said in a statement.
It said the impact of current cane expansion and yield improvement initiatives would crystalise in future seasons due to the long cropping cycle for sugarcane.
“Current marketing focus remains on optimising returns, specifically through prioritising local market requirements and allocating residual stocks to regional and premium international markets to generate additional foreign currency,” Hippo said.
Hippo Valley also revealed irrigation water cover for approximately two seasons. The water, Hippo Valley said, is secured within the industry’s water supply dams.
The crop maintenance programme, which commenced in December 2022 was progressing well and is anticipated to be fully complete before the commencement of the 2023/24 season in April 2023, the company said.
“The focus of this annual maintenance is to minimise breakdowns and improve mill efficiencies during the crushing period,” Hippo Valley said.
