Illovo Sugar
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 | |
| Industry | Agriculture |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Headquarters | uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal (eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality), South Africa |
Area served | South Africa, Africa |
Key people | Ricky Govender (Group Managing Director) |
| Products | Sugar Sugar marketing |
| Website | https://www.abfsugar.com/ |
ABF Sugar is the owner of what was the Illovo Sugar Africa (Pty) Ltd group based in uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The group still exists and where relevant, some local entities still carry the Illovo name. It remains one Africa's largest sugar producers but under the ABF Sugar umbrella, and the group of African sugar companies produces raw and refined sugar for local, regional African, European Union (EU), United States and world markets from sugar cane supplied by its own agricultural operations and independent growers who supply cane to Illovo's factories. The group comprises Illovo Sugar South Africa, Illovo Sugar Malawi, Illovo Sugar Rwanda, Zambia Sugar, Ubombo Sugar in Eswatini and Kilombero Sugar in Tanzania.
Until the 1960s, Illovo was a subsidiary of the General Mining Company of South Africa, which sold a 49% shareholding in the business to Tate & Lyle in 1969.[1] This was then sold in 1977 to C G Smith (Sugars) Ltd of Natal.[2] Today it is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Plc., which purchased 51% of the issued share capital for more than £400m in 2006.[3] In 2016, ABF bought the remaining 49% of the share capital.[4][5]
Illovo employs more than 12,000 permanent staff and 18,000 more on a temporary basis.[citation needed] Illovo Sugar's subsidiary Zambia Sugar is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange, under the symbol ZSUG.[6] In addition, its Malawian subsidiary Illovo Sugar Malawi is listed on the Malawi Stock Exchange, under the symbol ILLOVO.[7]