Work on Oman’s first sugar refinery will begin towards the end of this month, setting in motion the development of an ambitious food cluster at Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone, a report said.

This follows the signing of a $250 million EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) contract signed between Oman Sugar Refinery Company (OSRC) and China Light Industrial Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation, Oman Observer said.

The refinery is part of the new agro-industrial cluster taking shape at Sohar Port and Freezone, which features the development of an agro-terminal complex comprising, among other components, a network of grain silos and a flour mill.

Sohar Flour Mill, a subsidiary of Oman Flour Mill, will invest around $40 million in the establishment of a 500 tonnes-per-day capacity mill.

The report said, a separate contract, valued at around $10 million is expected to be initiated for the construction of a natural gas pipeline that will meet the primary energy requirements of the project, which is expected to be completed in 18 months on the commencement of the project.

Output is initially envisaged at 700,000 tonnes in the first phase, and ramped up to 1 million tonnes within three years thereafter, it added.