Ethanol Company Ltd
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Commissioned in 1982, Ethanol Company Limited has produced well over a quarter million litres of ethanol at both 99.9% and 99.6% purity. Lowest recorded annual production was in that first year when 6.4m litres were produced and the highest in 1997/98 when 15.4m litres were produced

TECHNICAL DATA

Ethanol Company limited has a design capacity of 60,000 litres of alcohol per day using molasses derived from sugar production. Due to raw material (feedstock) shortage and plant age full capacity utilisation is rarely achieved. A working maximum of 50,000 litres per day can be achieved. Molasses is currently (since 2004) purchased from Dwangwa Sugar Corporation which in turn gets its cane from its own estates and Smallholder Cane Out Growers and Dwangwa Cane Growers Limited. .

Ethanol Company Limited has a batch type fermentation system which uses an azeotropic form of distillation. The plant is in the process of being re-jigged to a modern molecular sieve system which will be supplemented by a continuous fermentation system. Malawi’s total supply of potable (extra-neutral-spirit) and the total required by the beverage industry comes from this company. Industrial alcohol for pharmaceuticals and for applications in similar industries is also produced.

Energy is supplied from burning coal in two, ten tonnes per hour, steam boilers. Steam produced is used principally for distillation and other salination requirements in the plant.

Effluent resulting from distillation used to be evaporated in open pan-ponds. Latterly the effluent has been adopted by local farmers as fertiliser in their maize gardens and now fully satisfies local needs, cutting drastically their costs of artificial fertiliser.

MARKETING

Ethanol Company distributes:

(i) ethanol 99.9% v/v alcohol
(ii) rectified (industrial) alcohol 99.6% v/v alcohol
(iii) potable (ENA) alcohol 99.6% v/v alcohol


Ethanol supplies Malawi’s main fuel companies:

British Petroleum (BP)
Mobil – Exxon Limited
Total (Malawi) limited
Caltex (Malawi) Limited


Industrial alcohol is marketed locally to various industries but more and more is exported to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Zambia. Surplus potable alcohol is also exported to the same countries. External demand cannot be satisfied because of the shortage of molasses. On the local market, sales are also lower than demand for the same reason.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Ethanol Company is a private company whose shareholders are

(i) Press Corporation Limited (66%)
(ii) INDEbank (26%)
(iii) Dwangwa Sugar Corporation (8%)


Press Corporation also owns Press Cane Limited which processes molasses from the other sugar mill in the south of Malawi. Ethanol Company Limited has a permanent staff of 80, all Malawian and employs about 40 seasonal workers.

THE FUTURE

Ethanol Company has a sales turnover of MK670 million expected to improve as soon as the plant parameters are improved and as more fine spirit is exported.

Annual Report - 2004
The company posted impressive results against the backdrop of adverse operating and marketing environments. The results were hugely aided by the availability during the first half of the year of molasses from Illovo factory at Nchalo owing to the delayed commissioning of the PressCane plant at Chikwawa.

The problem of a shared local market was partly resolved by the identification of export markets. Improvement in production and operational efficiencies, control of expenditure and good working capital management contributed to the good results.

Annual Report - 2005
This has been another year in which the Company performed well in spite of various operational problems particularly the reduced quantity of molasses.

The good results were ably aided by the identification of a sustainable export market for rectified alcohol enabling the company to grow this product to 35 per cent of total production for the first time. Efficiency gains at all levels and better than budget sales coupled with strict cost control measures and good management of working capital contributed to the above budget results.



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