Dubai's Al Ghurair Finds Sweet Spot As Refining Profits Fall

Al Ghurair is investing in a sugar beet processing plant in Egypt

- Isis Almeida

Jamal Al Ghurair, a member of one of Dubai’s richest families, is investing in a sugar beet processing plant in Egypt as a global glut squeezes profits for his cane refining business.

Companies in the Jamal Al Ghurair group are investing in the factory located about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Cairo, he told delegates at a conference in February.

The European Union is flooding the world market with white sugar, reducing the premium the refined variety commands over raws, an important measure of refining profits.

Raw sugar prices have fallen more than 30 percent in the past year as supplies are forecast to outpace demand this season and the next. Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer, uses cane to process into raw sweetener, which later has to be refined, adding to costs. The European Union mostly uses beets, which can be directly processed into white sugar.