NAKAMBALA FACTORY
Zambia Sugar owns a sugar cane plantation and sugar mill at Nakambala in Mazabuka, situated about 3 hours’ drive, south of the capital, Lusaka. The Nakambala Factory is the heart of our sugar production underpinned by a focus on safety. Our products include raw and refined sugar, and molasses. We are dedicated to ensuring the highest quality products while ensuring that all our agricultural and sugar production activities are best in class and friendly to the environment.
During the 2025 financial year, the factory achieved an average crush rate of 730 tonnes of cane per hour, exceeding its design rate of 700 tonnes of cane per hour while refined sugar throughput increased by 22 % compared to the prior year. This resulted in 3 191 074 tonnes of cane being crushed producing 372 328 tonnes of sugar while the downstream sugar refinery produced 88 935 tonnes of refined sugar.
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Nurturing Nature’s Bounty: Zambia Sugar’s Cultivation of Quality Crops, Rooted in Sustainable Agriculture.
INTERVIEW WITH OUR PRODUCTION MANAGER
SUGAR CANE PROCESSING
Our sugar cane processing begins in the agricultural field. With great care and balance of several parameters including sucrose content the sugar cane is transported to factory. The sugar cane is then crushed to extract the juice, which is then processed to remove impurities and produce high-quality sugar and sugar co-products. (Include a link to the detailed sugar production process)
POWER GENERATION
During the period under review, several energy improvement initiatives contributed to an increase of own power generation to 109 GWh compared to 103 GWh the previous period. Further energy efficiency initiatives continue to be implemented to increase own power generation to 146 GWh in the short term, while exploring capital intensive projects in parallel with these initiatives which are aligned to Zambia Sugar’s strategic focus of becoming power self-sufficient. The balance of electrical power required by the Nakambala Estate was imported from Zambia electricity supply cooperation (ZESCO), further enabling operations throughout the year.
CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Zambia Sugar PLC has continued to advance its capital investment programme, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable strategic growth and operational excellence. In the factory alone, a total of 22 projects were completed at a cost of K185 million; 8 % of which was for safety, 9 % on cost reduction initiatives and 83 % on essential replacement. Operational excellence will be enhanced by the recently completed K400 million Falling Film Evaporator Project which is currently being commissioned. This project will increase throughput and unlock more opportunities for improving energy efficiency.
FACTORY TARGETS
The factory remains focused on the strategy to establish a safe, robust, resilient, reliable and efficient factory that will sustainably crush 3.5 million tonnes of cane in 34 weeks and produce over 100 000 tonnes of refined sugar.
MAXIMIZING RESOURCES
Zambia Sugar’s milling complex operates with a focus on maximizing the use of all input materials while minimizing waste products. The water that is extracted from the cane is used in the plant’s operational requirements with the excess returned to the agricultural fields for irrigation.
The fibrous residue left after sugar extraction, known as cane fibre or bagasse, serves as a valuable bio-renewable fuel source in our factory boilers.
OUR BY-PRODUCT: MOLASSES
our by-product, molasses, finds multiple uses. We sell molasses to farmers as an animal feed supplement and utilize it as a key ingredient in the production of yeast, ethanol, and sanitizer. In addition, molasses serves as a dust suppressant on gravel or dirt roads, while also acting as a rich source of potassium (K) that can be applied directly to our sugar cane fields as a fertilizer.
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
To ensure effective operations and the attainment of these strategic objectives, the factory team will continue to focus on best maintenance practices to improve asset reliability, operational excellence and increase own power generation. Aligned to this is a structured learning and development plan providing employees with the essential skills and knowledge to work safely and efficiently.
