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Tendaho Sugar factory is expected to put Ethiopia in the number one place for sugar cane crushing capacity when it becomes fully operational according to Million Moges Deputy Manager for the project.

The project established in Afar Regional State at a cost of 11.8 billion birr has the capacity to crush 26,000 tons of sugar daily when fully operational said Million. The factory will be able to crush 13,000 tons of sugar cane in the first phase of the project he noted.

The Leather Industry Development Institution, Ethiopia is to import semi-processed leather products. The Ethiopian institute had originally considered importing raw material. The institute made the decision to import leather to solve the shortage of supplies for national tanneries.

The import of semi processed leather will reduce the production process for local tanneries and minimize the environmental impact of the processing according to sources at the institute. 

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority issued a new directive which allows manufacturing companies importing raw materials into Ethiopia to be taxed on the basis of their transaction costs.

The customs authority will conduct a post clearance audit within 15 days to reclaim the balance should there exist discrepancies between the transaction values on the invoices and ERCA’s data.

This directive aims to alleviate delays in production due to the time it takes for raw materials being processed by customs according to Fekadu Bekele, Customs Valuation Directorate.

Chinese footwear company, Hujuan, is to begin operations in Ethiopia. Hujuan commenced investment activities in Ethiopia two months ago and is in the final stages of constructing a factory in Dukem. The factory is expected to produce 3000 pairs of shoes daily for export.

Hujan anticipates that production will begin in its Ethiopian factory early in the New Year according to Berhanu Nigus, Head of Quality Testing and Certification Services at the Leather Industry Development Institute.

The Ethiopian Manufacturing Sector has earned an income of 72 million US dollars in the first quarter of the current fiscal year according to the Ministry of Industry.

Ethiopia has set out to acquire 471.2 million US dollars in revenue from leather, agro-processing, textile, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors this budget year according to Melaku Taye, Communication Director for the MoI.  The revenue registered for the first quarter exceeded that earned in the same time period of the last fiscal year by 104.4% explained Melaku.