Al-Khaleej sugar refinery lifts force major

Dubai's al-Khaleej sugar refinery, the biggest in the Gulf, on Sunday lifted force major declared after a fire partly damaged the conveyor system and storage areas, a company official said on Monday.
"The lifting of the force major declaration has been effective since yesterday, however, it is estimate the level of production at the moment," Al Khaleej's corporate affairs general manager Cyprus Raja told Reuters.
Before the fire, the refinery had been operating at 40 percent below capacity, which stands at 4,500 tonnes per day. Al-Khaleej can hold up to 1.1 million tonnes of raw sugar and is storing 400,000 tonnes. The company is centrally located in the Middle East to serve customers in the Middle East and North Africa. The region consumes 12 million tonnes of sugar annually, of which 8.5 million are imported. Some 45 percent of the imports are raw sugar and 55 percent whites.