Jean_Raymond Boulle Mauritius

Omnicane was launched in June 2009 through a strategic re-branding of Mon-Trésor-Mon-Désert Ltd, a long established sugar cane group in Mauritius as sugar was produced on its very industrial site as early as 1818. MTMD was owned by various companies in time including Lonrho, Illovo Sugar Limited (1997-2001) and the holding BBHM as from 2002 to 2009. Omnicane Limited, then MTMD Limited was one of the first five companies to be admitted to the Official List of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) at the latter’s inception in 1989. Its issued share capital is held 70.25% by Omnicane Holdings Ltd (OMHL), 10.13% by the National Pensions Fund and 19.62% by some 1,958 individuals and companies. Four groups, including three in the sugar sector, own 65% of Omnicane Management and Consultancy Limited (OMCL), and the Sugar Investment Trust (SIT) owns the remaining 35%.
Omnicane is engaged in sugar cane production and processing, electricity production, food crop, flower and venison production. Its agricultural operations are carried out at Mon Trésor, Britannia, Benares and Highlands. Omnicane owns some 3 200 hectares of land under cane of which 2 817 were harvested in 2009 to produce 260,948 tonnes of cane with an average yield of 92.6 tonnes per hectare. Sugar yield was 9.57 tonnes per hectare for the same year. Both performances represented an 11.6 % increase over the previous year. Various sugar cane varieties are grown and practically all the field operations are totally mechanized, which stands at 40% of the area at date.

As a result of the reform of the EU sugar regime which entailed a 36% reduction in the price of sugar for countries like Mauritius, members of the ACP – EU Sugar Protocol, Omnicane has had to adapt itself to this decrease in revenue through a cost reduction exercise as well as an increase in output and revenues. Cost reduction entailed the rationalization of factory operations. Thus in the South of Mauritius, five factories have closed in recent years with their operations being centralized on the two units owned by Omnicane Milling Operations Ltd (OMOL). The latter comprises of a state of the art flexi-factory at La Baraque and a smaller milling unit at Union St Aubin (USA).

The sugar factory at La Baraque has a crushing capacity of 8 000 tonnes cane per day and has the only diffuser in operation over the island. It is the most modern sugar cane mill in the region and is of world standard. It has necessitated investments of the order of MUR 1 050 millions (USD 33.6 millions). In 2008, this flexi factory processed 1.1 million tonnes of cane including cane from outgrowers. It was the first time ever that a factory exceeded the 1 million tonne cane mark in Mauritius. In 2009, OMOL crushed a total of 1,478,597 tonnes of sugar cane and produced a total of 148, 281 tonnes of raw and plantation white sugar (PWS). All the sugar is manufactured at La Baraque whilst USA concentrates its cane juice into syrup, which is then transported to La Baraque for processing into PWS. In 2009, a sugar refinery was set up at La Baraque with Brazilian technology necessitating an investment of MUR 1 250 millions (USD 40 millions). The refinery with a capacity of 600 tonnes per day will produce direct consumption sugar for the European market through a contract with the German firm Südzucker which will last until 2014.

Omnicane also owns three power plants, running on bagasse solely at Union St. Aubin of a capacity of 12.2 MW, one on bagasse-cum-coal at La Baraque of 2 x 45 MW which is the largest such installation in the world and a third unit running on coal of 35 MW at Union St. Aubin. In 2008, Omnicane Thermal Energy Operations Ltd which accounted for 32.7% of the national electric output, produced 743 721 of the 2 276 105 MWh generated across the island. The unit at La Baraque adjacent to the flexi factory produced 22.4% (510 261 MWh), the unit at Union St. Aubin factory 0.9% (19 355 MWh) and the unit at St Aubin 9.4% (214 105 MWh). Omnicane is the largest Independent Power Producer (IPP) of Mauritius and has Power Purchase Agreements with the Central Electricity Board, a parastatal body which has the monopoly of electricity sales in Mauritius.

Omnicane is engaged in agricultural diversification activities. The Group’s potato production in 2009 reached 2,100 tonnes, 10 % more than the previous year’s 1,900 tonnes. It is at present investing into cold rooms and other facilities in the framework of a project to ensure food security, which together with other producers in the region will result into a production of 10 000 tonnes of potato in the coming years making the island self sufficient in this commodity. Omnicane is also involved in vegetable, palm heart, fresh water shrimp and venison production as well as flower production mainly Anthurium andreanum for the export market. Other activities include logistics through Omnicane Haulage Ltd for transport of cane, sugar, molasses, rocks, etc. It is involved in stone crushing for aggregates for the building industry through Sud Concassage Ltée.

In 2009, the Group’s turnover amounted to MUR 3,192.0 millions (USD 102.1 millions) while its total assets were valued at MUR 15,150.8 millions (USD 484. 8 millions). Omnicane has a board membership of 12 with a Non-Executive Chairperson and 8 Non-Executive Directors. Its Senior Management including the CEO, numbered 34 in 2009. It employs 512 persons in its agricultural operations, 540 persons in its milling operations, 60 persons in its thermal energy operations and 20 persons in its corporate administrative services, totalling 1132 persons including both staff and workers but excluding seasonal workers. The Auditors are Kemp Chatteris Deloitte and the nine bankers include Barclays Bank plc., HSBC, The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd. and the State Bank of Mauritius Ltd.

Among the new projects being planned by Omnicane is a wind farm of 22 MW with 22 turbines of 1 MW each, for operation in 2011, an ethanol distillery of an annual capacity of 22.5 millions litres for entry into operation in 2011, a new energy producing entity to be set up at La Baraque industrial site to cater for the energy requirements of the distillery and refinery with excess electricity produced to be made available to the grid,and a carbon burnout unit to treat the waste from the coal power plants.
Source : http://www.omnicane.com/index.php?tid=5&lang=1