News
April 20th, 2010
USA Distillers finally launches it's new website. We are pleased to share more about our company, products, and services. Check back for further updates and news.
April 15th, 2010
GAIN Report, a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service,and Swaziland Sugar Association (SSA), names USA Distillers as one of the top 2 annual users of sugar production in Swaziland in their latest commodity report for public distribution.
October, 2007
Swaziland Growing Cassava for Biofuel. The Swazi government is allocating unirrigated land to a local concern called USA Distilleries, which makes molasses from the sugar cane grown in the eastern lowveld but is based in Big Bend, a town 60km north of Lavumisa. The company is investing more than US$5 million in the biofuel project, which is expected to generate 700 jobs in an area that has remained undeveloped since the country's independence in 1968. USA Distilleries will comment on its new venture later and more details are expected to be released after the environmental impact assessment has been completed. Click here for full article
July 18th, 2007
Logichem announces expansion at USA Distillers (Pty) Ltd Logichem has been supporting USA Distillers at Big Bend, Swaziland with consulting and equipment since 2000. During this period, capacity has been increased from 50 kℓ/d to 100 kℓ/d. The latest addition designed by Logichem, is a new Beer Column designed for 150 kℓ/d.This in combination with the exsiting column takes USA beer capacity to 250 kl/d. De-bottling necking the industrial stage is the next step. USA Distillers produces neutral potable and industrial spirit for the export market, based on sugar cane molasses. A general expansion project is currently in progress, bringing new fermentation and distillation capacity on stream. New steam raising capacity has been installed and commissioned, a co-generation facility, which will make the operation self-sufficient in its power requirements is currently under-way. Click here to read full article
June 26th, 2006
Ethical-Sugar reports - USA Distillers to expand ethanol plant. The expansion involves increasing production and certain modifications given that alternative sources of raw material will be required. The project will be in two folds, the first one being that USA Distillers will cultivate a raw material from which they can produce alcohol to sell worldwide and the second one being that the local community of Swaziland benefits from the financial investment and the resultant employment opportunities. "A project of this nature will create in excess of 5,000 direct jobs, not to mention the indirect infrastructure required to support their functioning." Click here to see the full article.
October 2003
PCBI Engineers & Contractors reports possible acquisition of USA Distillers' assets in Swaziland, (USD 360 Million) As a follow on from RSSC's expansion plans, PGBI was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of USA Distillers' assets in Swaziland with a view to possible acquisition by RSSC. The assignment included not only a valuation of the physical assets but also an assessment of the business with plans and recommendations for integrating the business into RSSC's existing operations.
July 1999
Excerpt from Develop Technology Article
Final stages of the new distilling plant at the Big Bend location are near, and production is about to begin .The distillery, which will initially draw molasses from Swazi sugar estates, is targeted to produce at an initial rate of 1.8m litres/month, but build up to 3m litres/month within six months, according to its backer, Johannesburg-based Joe Caldera. F USA Distillers' large new distilling plant at Big Bend in Swaziland is about to begin production. The distillery, which will initially draw molasses from Swazi sugar estates, is targeted to produce at an initial rate of 1.8m litres/month, but build up to 3m litres/month within six months, according to its backer, Johannesburg-based Joe Caldera. Further major expansion is envisaged later on the same site, and molasses may eventually be drawn from SA estates, he says. The distillery is much bigger than the existing Royal Swazi Sugar Corp distillery in Swaziland. The project has been under preparation for the past two years and has cost R60-R70m, says Caldera. The plant will produce 96% alcohol, mainly for export to Europe. It has been located in Swaziland because of advantageous prices for molasses there, and Swaziland's membership of the Lom™ © Convention, which means that its product will enter Europe tariff-free and quota-free. Click here to see the full article