Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Uganda’s three main sugar factories expect to reach their production forecasts this year after achieving 73 percent of targeted output in the first nine months, the Uganda Sugar Cane Technologists Association said.

The three plants, which account for 98 percent of annual production, produced 217,293 metric tons of the sweetener in the nine months through September, Wilberforce Mubiru, the association’s chief executive officer, said in an e-mail today from the capital, Kampala. The production target for the full year is 293,541 tons, compared with 233,325 tons a year earlier, he said.

“If there are no unforeseen problems up to December, we are likely to achieve the targets,” said Mubiru.

Kakira Sugar Works, the largest producer, produced 115,860 tons in the nine-month period, 2 percent less than its target, he said. Production at the factory, owned by Madhvani Group, was 124,210 tons last year.

Kinyara Sugar Works Ltd., the second-biggest producer, posted output of 66,422 tons in the period, 73 percent of its target. The plant is 51 percent-owned by Rai Group, a joint Kenyan and Mauritian agro-forest company.

Output at Sugar Corp. of Uganda Ltd., which is jointly owned by the Ugandan state and Mumbai-based Mehta Group, was estimated at 35,013 tons, 68 percent of its target of 51,640 tons, the association said.

The three plants are investing a combined $100 million in expansion and power generation, the association said in a report last year. Output is projected to increase to 330,000 tons in 2010 before climbing to 335,000 tons in 2011, it said in a report earlier this year.

Uganda consumes about 250,000 tons of sugar annually and imports the deficit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 04:47 EST