scholarly journals Development of indicators for the sustainability of the sugar industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 22-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto García-Bustamante ◽  
Noé Aguilar-Rivera ◽  
Manuel Zepeda-Pirrón ◽  
Cynthia Armendáriz-Arnez
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Sugar Production

AbstractSustainable development has been highlighted widely in productive sectors such as the sugar industry with new paradigms and trends such restructuring of sugar mills in biorefineries and development of green chemical from byproducts, considering issues such as technology adoption towards sustainability, circular economy, climate change, value chain, sustainability assessment and decision making. Production of cane sugar is one of Mexico’s main agro-industries; it conveys numerous positive socio-economic impacts and presents opportunities for productive diversification and enhanced profitability and competiveness. The sugar industry faces sustainability challenges due to the management of natural resources like soil, water, fossil fuels and agrochemicals, as well as the impacts of its greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic constraints. However, sustainability of cane and sugar production cannot be assessed due to a lack of methodological frameworks for integrating economic and environmental indicators. We propose an index for Mexico’s sugar agro-industry that facilitates the identification of those system components that impact sustainability. This index is based on a reduced number of indicators aggregated through a multi-criteria evaluation using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). We apply this index to evaluate four sugar production systems in Mexico: producers of raw, refined, muscovado sugar and ethanol. Results show that systems with a high agro-industrial yield present better sustainability performance. This study is relevant because it provides quantitative information for decision makers towards a sustainable sugarcane agro-industry, based on the indicators used to build the sustainability index, to address actions as increase productive diversification by-products based, improve access to credit, irrigation, management practices and raw material quality reducing production costs, eliminate fossil fuel use in factories, make fertilizer application more efficient and reduce the area that is burned for manual harvest.

Technical accounting: sugar extraction and losses

2020 ◽  
pp. 712-721
Author(s):  
Jan Maarten de Bruijn de Bruijn
Keyword(s):  
Process Improvement ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Extraction Yield ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Cost Leadership ◽  
Sugar Extraction ◽  
White Sugar

The bought sugar in the processed raw material (either beet or cane) comprises a high financial value and may contribute to somewhere around 50% of the white sugar production costs. It is therefore of the utmost importance to minimize sugar losses along the process and produce as much white sugar as possible from the raw material. This paper explains the principle of technical accounting as tool to control sugar extraction and losses in beet sugar manufacture. The sugar mass balance used to calculate the overall sugar extraction yield, as well as several simple calculations proposed for estimating the different sugar losses (like e.g. extraction (diffusion) losses, infection losses, sugar losses in molasses, etc.) in the subsequent process steps will be explained in detail. Proper technical accounting is considered indispensable for continuous process control and process improvement in pursuit of best-practice operation and cost-leadership.

Rethinking on growth mechanism of Indian sugar industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 412-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheetal ◽  
Rajiv Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Growth Mechanism ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Industry Professionals

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to revisit the growth mechanism of Indian sugar industry by deploying quantitative and qualitative metaphors. Design/methodology/approach The research paper has been composed through comprehensive primary research survey using a structured questionnaire, and qualitative discussion following semi- structured interviews with industry professionals on emerging issues across the whole value chain of sugar industry. Respondents regarding primary survey were selected using the purposive sampling, and this collected quantitative information has been verified on the lenses of multiple stream modelling (MSM). Findings To support the data analysis, MSM – a policy-making framework has been developed which found that government being a central construct exerts a profound presence across whole value chain; in suppliers’ mechanism, marketing of sugar and sugar mills’ infrastructural expansions. Nationwide uniformity in sugar policy instead of states’ monopolistic policies, rational and mutual benefits-based decisions collectively by the government, mills management and sugarcane growers, and diversification in production processes are enumerated as the proposed solutions against the chronical industry problems. Practical implications This study enriches extant Asian sugar industry literature. For policymakers, the proposed results should be of help in identifying specific policies to support the competitiveness of local systems and individual manufacturing companies in the Indian sugar industry suggesting that the development of growth mechanisms can contribute simultaneously to improve the financial, market and operational performance of both individual firms and supply chains. Originality/value Cyclicality in production, rising sugarcane farmers’ problems and resulting severe financial distress of mills are some of the topical issues of Indian sugar industry, and the study has explored these issues factually, quantitatively and qualitatively in proximity of industry professionals and described in this depository with the help of document analysis.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) of Sassuolo Industrial District (Italy)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Settembre-Blundo ◽  
Fernando E. García-Muiña ◽  
Martina Pini ◽  
Lucrezia Volpi ◽  
Cristina Siligardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Product Categories

One of the biggest challenges for European industry is to introduce sustainability principles into business models. This is particularly important in raw material and energy intensive manufacturing sectors such as the ceramic industry. The present state of knowledge lacks a comprehensive operational tool for industry to support decision-making processes geared towards sustainability. In the ceramic sector, the economic and social dimensions of the product and processes have not yet been given sufficient importance. Moreover, the traditional research on industrial districts lacks an analysis of the relations between firms and the territory with a view to sustainability. Finally, the attention of scholars in the field of economic and social sustainability, has not yet turned to the analysis of the Sassuolo district. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), as a method that can be a suitable tool to fill this gap, because through a mathematical model it is possible to obtain the information useful for decision makers to integrate the principles of sustainability both at the microeconomic level in enterprises, and at the meso-economic level for the definition of economic policies and territorial governance. Environmental and socio-economic analysis was performed from the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the product on different product categories manufactured by the Italian ceramic industries of the Sassuolo district (northern Italy). For the first time the LCSA model, usually applied to unitary processes, is extended to the economic and industrial activities of the entire district, extending the prospect of investigation from the enterprise and its value chain to the integrated network of district enterprises.

scholarly journals Sustainability as Source of Competitive Advantages in Mature Sectors: The Case of Ceramic District of Sassuolo (Italy)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Settembre-Blundo ◽  
Fernando E. García-Muiña ◽  
Martina Pini ◽  
Lucrezia Volpi ◽  
Cristina Siligardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Integrated Network

Talking about sustainable development refers mainly to the environmental sphere, but the concept is much broader and also takes into account the social and economic conditions. The concept of sustainability, in this sense, is linked to the compatibility between the development of economic activities, the related social phenomena, and the protection of the environment. Therefore, the ability to balance social, economic and environmental sustainability is the very meaning of the concept of sustainable development. Firms that choose to develop policies and strategies to enhance and pursue sustainable development in the medium to long term have the burden of having to quantitatively document the improvements in production processes with the aim of sustainable development. As a result, one of the biggest challenges for European industry is to introduce sustainability principles into business models leading to competitive advantage. This is particularly important in raw material and energy intensive manufacturing sectors such as the ceramic industry. The present state of knowledge lacks a comprehensive operational tool for industry to support decision-making processes geared towards sustainability. In the ceramic sector, the economic and social dimensions of the product and processes have not yet been given sufficient importance. Moreover, the traditional research on industrial districts lacks an analysis of the relations between firms and the territory with a view to sustainability. Finally, the attention of scholars in the field of economic and social sustainability, has not yet turned to the analysis of the Sassuolo district. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), as a method that can be a suitable tool to fill this gap, because through a mathematical model it is possible to obtain the information useful for decision makers to integrate the principles of sustainability both at the microeconomic level in enterprises, and at the meso-economic level for the definition of economic policies and territorial governance. Environmental and socio-economic analysis was performed from the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the product on different product categories manufactured by the Italian ceramic industries of the Sassuolo district (northern Italy). For the first time the LCSA model, usually applied to unitary processes, is extended to the economic and industrial activities of the entire district, extending the prospect of investigation from the enterprise and its value chain to the integrated network of district enterprises.

scholarly journals Territorial Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (T-LCSA) of Sassuolo Industrial District (Italy)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Settembre-Blundo ◽  
Fernando E. García-Muiña ◽  
Martina Pini ◽  
Lucrezia Volpi ◽  
Cristina Siligardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Product Categories

One of the biggest challenges for European industry is to introduce sustainability principles into business models. This is particularly important in raw material and energy intensive manufacturing sectors such as the ceramic industry. The present state of knowledge lacks a comprehensive operational tool for industry to support decision-making processes geared towards sustainability. In the ceramic sector, the economic and social dimensions of the product and processes have not yet been given sufficient importance. Moreover, the traditional research on industrial districts lacks an analysis of the relations between firms and the territory with a view to sustainability. Finally, the attention of scholars in the field of economic and social sustainability, has not yet turned to the analysis of the Sassuolo district. Therefore, in this paper we define the Territorial Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (T-LCSA), a method that can be a suitable tool to fill this gap, because through a mathematical model it is possible to obtain the information useful for decision makers to integrate the principles of sustainability both at the microeconomic level in enterprises, and at the meso-economic level for the definition of economic policies and territorial governance. Environmental and socio-economic analysis was performed from the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the product on different product categories manufactured by the Italian ceramic industries of the Sassuolo district (northern Italy). For the first time the T-LCSA model, usually applied to unitary processes, is extended to the economic and industrial activities of the entire district, extending the prospect of investigation from the enterprise and its value chain to the integrated network of district enterprises.

scholarly journals INSIGHTS INTO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS IN AN INDIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY: A STUDY

2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 64-68
Author(s):  
Anupama Nalkurti ◽  
G.L. Narayanappa
Keyword(s):  
Rural Economy ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Southern India ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Bargaining Process ◽  
Northern India ◽  
Independence Era

‘JUPITER’ sugars India LTD was founded in 1941 in southern India as a private sugar factory. Later it enhanced its production from 1000 TCD to 8500 TCD in the year 1962.  It was amalgamating many subunits and multi locational products into its main unit.  The company has focused its attention on various projects and substantial resources. Subsequently, they have decided to organize the company into two units one in southern India and one in northern India.  Sugar industry is a vital agro industry largely depends on agriculture in India and is extremely accountable for creating a major impact on rural economy in particular and the country's economic status on broad-spectrum. Sugar production has a yield in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. Then subsequently evolutes around the globe1. Sugarcane is a native of tropical Indian domain and spread over to the vital segments of world. Sugarcane plantation would be carried out twice in every year in India. The majority of the sugar production in India takes at regional sugar mills2. Subsequently in the post independence era India contemplated for overall augmentation of sugar industry3. The Indian sugar industry is independent in its energy needs and further makes additional exportable power through cogeneration. The different byproducts of sugar industry likewise add to the economic development of the nation to advancing various additional industries. Sugarcane has developed as a multi-product crop utilized as an essential raw material for the manufacture of sugar, ethanol, paper, electricity and besides a cogeneration of subsidiary product.

International competitiveness of value chains for sugar beet and sugarcane: a combined approach to estimate production and processing costs in Brazil and Germany

2019 ◽  
pp. 444-450
Author(s):  
Samuel Balieiro ◽  
Thomas de Witte ◽  
Andreas Lehnberger
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
World Market ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Material Costs ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
White Sugar ◽  
Technical Coefficients

With the liberalization of the European sugar sector, the industry is free to export sugar to the world market, competing with other sugarcane producing countries. To understand competitiveness, it is imperative to compare total production costs, including both raw material (farm) and processing costs (mill). Therefore, farmlevel production costs from agri benchmark combined with an engineering approach to calculate processing costs were merged to calculate sugar production costs in Germany and Brazil. The necessary data related to investment costs and technical coefficients was obtained in collaboration with BMA. Results show that processing one ton of white sugar (excluding raw material costs) from sugarcane in Brazil is more than USD30/t cheaper than processing sugar beet in Germany. Including raw material costs and the sales of byproducts, white sugar production in Brazil has a total cost advantage of USD112/t over German factories. Key differences in production costs are associated with labor (20%), depreciation (20%) and energy costs (40%). The findings indicate that even with equivalent raw material costs, the lower net processing costs are a major competitive advantage for Brazilian sugar producers. The combination of the typical farm approach and the dynamic engineering model can be applied to other regions, allowing for the estimation of regional production and shifts in global sugar supply.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment of the Green Compost Production Chain from Agricultural Waste: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pergola ◽  
Alessandro Persiani ◽  
Vittoria Pastore ◽  
Assunta Maria Palese ◽  
Carmine D’Adamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Organic Farms ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Production Chain ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Technology Process

Horticultural farms are faced with the problem of disposing of huge amounts of agricultural by-products whose management requires sustainable solutions. Composting means to recycle organic waste to make compost—a high agronomic value product—able to positively affect soil quality: A good occasion to switch definitively from a conventional agriculture to an organic one. Nevertheless, composting can have negative direct/indirect environmental impacts. The aim of this research was to assess the sustainability of a windrow composting system, able to treat agricultural green waste of different typology (“light” and “heavy” with dry matter below or above 10%, respectively). Environmental impacts, energy consumptions, and production costs of all composting stages were evaluated by Life Cycle Assessment. Results show that the production of 1 ton of compost caused CO2eq emissions ranging from 199 to 250 kg and required between 1500 and 2000 MJ of energy; costs ranged between 98 and 162 euro, nevertheless lesser than the commercial green compost. The raw material typology affected significantly the composting process making compost based on “heavy” materials the most sustainable. These findings underline the need to spread this low technology process, easy to apply, especially in organic farms, and to promote the agronomic use of compost.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Appropriateness of the Current Sugarcane Out-grower Support Programs towards Improving Yields in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-40
Author(s):  
Shirichena Kudakwashe ◽  
Mavondo Greanious Alfred ◽  
Moyo Obadiah ◽  
Chikuse Francis Farai ◽  
Mkwanazi Blessing Nkazimulo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interest Rates ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Sugar Industry ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Validity And Reliability

Problem: Sugar production has drastically reduced over the years due to several reasons. The effects of the Land Redistribution Program (LRP) on agriculture, price controls, associated inflationary economic conditions, and hostile international foreign policies have formatted years of economical upheavals affecting sugarcane production. The infrastructure which had been developed to the point of being among the most sophisticated irrigation systems in the world, is threatened with collapse. Approximately 872 out-grower farmers, largely beneficiaries of the Fast Track Land Reform and Redistribution Program, have acquired sizable tract of land hoping to build the sugar industry but numerous problems beset the sector players. Objectives: To find solutions to the sugar production through investigating and looking into the appropriateness of the out-grower support for this end. Methods: Out-growers, beneficiaries of the Land Reform program and targeted sugar producers were observed to be the best source of information on how best to revitalize sugar production in Zimbabwe. Probability random sampling technique to select the out-growers was used. A list of all the out-growers was drawn and using the Kth term every eighth name was picked until a sample of 100 was reached. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Five-point Likert scale close-ended questions were used in the questionnaire followed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient analysis for internal validity and reliability testing. GraphPad InStat Software (version 5, GraphPad Software, San Diego, California USA) was used for relative statistical comparisons between estimates with. P values of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The population age groups of out-grower farmers were mixed with majority of them falling between 46 to 55 years with the majority of the farmers having 10 to 19 years of experience in sugarcane farming business. Most out-growers were educated holding at Ordinary (O) level of education. Out-growers who did ordinary level and above proved to be following the standard sugarcane procedures. A relatively high proportion of respondents followed the standard sugarcane growing procedures although the farmers did not possess enough business managerial skills. There was a notable difference in production between farmers that had formal sugarcane growing training than those that did not have. A significant proportion of lending institutions charged rather exorbitant interest rates and lacked flexibility required by the farmers. Conclusion: The general business operating environment for out-grower farmers was rather hostile with short loan repayment periods, reduced yields per hectare and low profit margins. The sugarcane out-growers were not keen to form syndicates for buying inputs or repairing infrastructures. Main recommendation: Out-growers should be provided with funding and training to allow them to utilize resources adequately to generate incomes that will allow them to support the agricultural activities efficiently without relying on input support from commercial plantation owners. Out-growers need to be encouraged to form partnerships for to enable them to advantages in reducing production costs.

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