This file photo shows representatives from Ethiopian and Chinese side visit the workplace of Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory in Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, on June 6, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

The Ethiopia Sugar Corporation (ESC) disclosed Friday the Chinese-built Tana Bales No. 1 sugar factory it owns has started production.

In a press statement, the ESC said the sugar factory, which was built by the China CAMC Engineering Corporation Limited (CAMCE), started producing white sugar Thursday after several months of preparatory work.

The Tana Bales No. 1 sugar factory project in the East African country's northern Amhara region started construction in 2012, with a planned completion date of around 18 months, but the construction didn't proceed smoothly as expected. By the end of 2017, only about 60 percent of the project was completed.

CAMCE, a company that belongs to China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH), took over the sugar project in September 2019 and started construction.

This file photo shows representatives from Ethiopian and Chinese side visit the workplace of Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory in Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, on June 6, 2021.Photo:Xinhua

The ESC also disclosed that Tana Beles No. 1 sugar factory is expected to produce 20,000 metric tons of sugar by the end of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2021/2022, which will end on July 7.

The Tana Beles No. 1 sugar project is expected to crush about 12,000 metric tons of sugar cane and produce around 1,000 metric tons of sugar daily. The sugar project has also an installed capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) of electric energy, contributing to Ethiopia's blueprint for raising the country's electrification coverage from around 60 percent currently to 100 percent by 2025.