KALUNGWISHI Estates Limited, the producers of Kasama sugar have invested more than US$8 million in the sugar plantation in the Northern Province.

The company currently produces between 2,500 and 2,600 tonnes of sugar per annum and has been in operation since 1987.

Kalungwishi Estate Limited general manager Derrick Sianga said in an interview in Lusaka that the firm had invested between US$8 million and $10 million in the last 10 years.

Mr Sianga explained that the company which started with the production levels of 1,300 tonnes per annum had now increased its production to 2,600 tonnes per year.

He said the commodity was being marketed within the country destined for Muchinga and Northern provinces respectively.

'Our focus right now is the markets within the country, we sell our commodity to Muchinga and Northern provinces. Right now our biggest market is the Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces," Mr Sianga said.

He said currently the firm was not expanding, adding that the strategy was to maximise the efficiency of what the company has.

Mr Sianga said: "There is need to perfect the art of running a plant like this one at its scale and size, we need 50,000 tonnes of cane per year right now we do up to 30,000 tonnes of cane per year .So we still have a margin of 20,000 tonnes of cane."

He said it had taken the company 10 years to reach to the level of producing 2,600 tonnes of sugar per year.

Mr Sianga said the company would continue taking advantage of the opportunities in the regional markets such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and among others.

Mr Sianga said the current export figures are in the range of 1,000 tonnes.