- Tongaat Hulett Ltd., South Africa’s second-largest sugar producer by market value, cut production forecasts for Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the financial year through March 2012.

Tongaat expects to produce 360,000 metric tons to 380,000 tons in Zimbabwe, and 250,000 to 270,000 tons in Mozambique, the company said in a presentation on its website today.

In November, it forecast 380,000 to 400,000 tons for Zimbabwe and 270,000 to 290,000 tons in Mozambique. The company didn’t give a reason for the cut and officials weren’t available to comment when Bloomberg News called Tongaat’s main office.

For this fiscal year, output from the two southern African nations will be below or near the low-end of the forecast range, the presentation shows. Tongaat will probably produce 333,020 tons in Zimbabwe in the year ending March 30, compared with the 330,000 to 350,000 tons forecast in November.

In Mozambique, the latest estimate of 165,744 tons compares with a target of 185,000-205,000 tons.

Tongaat forecasts 835,000 tons from South Africa in 2012- 13, compared with 445,694 tons in the current financial year.

The company, with 14 sugar plants in six countries, has the capacity to produce a million tons of sugar in South Africa, 600,000 tons in Zimbabwe and 327,000 in Mozambique.

Tongaat rose 1.4 percent to 108.50 rand by the 5 p.m. close of trade in Johannesburg, giving it a market value of 11.4 billion rand ($1.7 billion). Illovo Sugar Ltd., South Africa’s largest producer, advanced 2.7 percent to 26.50 rand.

By Bloomberg