Pakistani firm to export sugarcane crushing mill to USA
By Khawaja Ahsan Paul 'Pakistan Times' Punjab Bureau Chief

LAHORE: Pakistan will make history on February 10 (Saturday) by exporting one of the world’s largest sugarcane crushing mill, SKODA 55”x95”x 4 to Louisiana, USA.

According to Engineering Development Board (EDB) sources, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives will be the chief guest on the unveiling ceremony arranged by the manufacturer being held in this connection.

Senior government officers including State Bank Governor, Chairman, CBR, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Federal Secretary, Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, Chief Executive Officer, Engineering Development Board (EDB), foreign diplomats, leading engineering sector manufacturers, and prominent figures of sugar sector will also be present on the occasion.

The sugarcane crushing mill has been manufactured by Qadbros Engineering, a Lahore-based private sector company which has specialized in manufacturing of bigger sugar mills.

Besides being the leading manufacturer for most of the 85 sugar factories within the country, QadBros Engineering has , for the last 5 years, been exporting heavy plant & equipment for sugarcane crushing to customers spread over five continents of the world including North America , Central & Latin America, Africa, Europe and South East Asia .

The rapidly intensifying energy crisis that grips the world today has generated tremendous worldwide interest in renewable sources of energy. One of the major sources of renewable energy is the world’s cane processing & distillation industry which produces ethanol as a by-product or as its main product.

Accordingly, the world’s cane processing & distillation industry is witnessing an upheaval in terms of new capacity addition. With Brazil leading the increase in sugarcane crushing & distillation capacity worldwide, this scenario has led to an unprecedented increase in the demand for cane crushing plant & equipment.

According to a conservative estimate, the world’s sugarcane crushing capacity will have increased by more than 200 million tons by the year 2012.

This tremendous increase in the demand for cane sugar factory plant & equipment is shaping up at a time when most of the few remaining recognized European, American and Australian manufacturers of sugarcane crushing plant & equipment have closed shop thanks to long years of recession within the world cane sugar industry resulting from depressed sugar prices, high cost of heavy equipment manufacture, and environment issues confronting the metallurgical foundry sector in the west.

Over the years, that situation forced the world’s major cane sugar eqpt. manufacturers & technology companies to seek technology partnership with Asian manufacturers .●