Kingston, Jamaica, June 12 - Brazilian company Infinity Bio-Energy Ltd is expected to take over Jamaica's sugar industry after winning a public tender for five state-owned factories, an industry official said.
Allan Rickards, head of the powerful Cane Farmers Association, said on Thursday that Infinity was the sole remaining bidder for the assets, and the sale should be completed by the end of September.
Finance Minister Audley Shaw on Tuesday said the factories would be taken over by a Brazilian company, but did not name it.
"We are in the process now of finalizing the divestment of the factories and they will go to a Brazilian company that has a tremendous track record in the field of ethanol production," Shaw said then at a function in the capital Kingston.
Agriculture Minister Chris Tufton declined to confirm this week whether the Brazilian company emerged as the preferred bidder, saying that negotiations were continuing.
"The prime minister will make an announcement when the agreement is signed," Tufton told farmers at the launch of an annual farm show on Wednesday.
The sugar factories being sold are Frome and Long Pond in the west, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge in the central region, and Duckenfield in the east.
The factories have accumulated losses of a quarter of a billion dollars over the last 25 years and the government said that it could not continue to subsidize them.
Once a major sugar power, Jamaica now earns more from bauxite sales and tourism.
Jamaica produced 162,000 tonnes of sugar in the last harvest, falling 5,000 tonnes short of its production target.
The latest official forecast for the 2007/08 harvest is for 160,000 tonnes of sugar.