GuySuCo records best production ‘day’ in five years
A bell loader harvesting sugar cane
A bell loader harvesting sugar cane

PRODUCTIVITY in Guyana’s sugar industry is improving incrementally, with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) reporting that the three producing estates, Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt, collectively produced 654.3 metric tonnes of sugar, the highest in a single day since the downsizing of the industry by the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration.

The sugar corporation, in a statement provided to the Guyana Chronicle, said this is an indication that all resources expended so far are contributing significantly to the improvement of the sugar industry, as was seen on March 3, when the industry recorded its highest production day. Increased productivity and better yields are a result of critical investments in machines such as bell loaders, among other things, which have been utilised at the producing estates for semi-mechanical and mechanical harvesting.

“We have expended key investments into the three factories at Uitvlugt, Albion and Blairmont over the last four months thanks to the $3 billion provided by the government,” GuySuCo said.
In 2017, the former APNU+AFC Coalition Government had announced the closure of several sugar estates across the country. The move saw four sugar estates being closed, and 7,000 sugar workers losing their jobs. Plans are afoot to not just rehire persons, but to return this industry to viability through coordinated and prudent management, which is expected to come from both private and public stakeholders.

In 2020, the corporation was allocated a sum of $7 billion; $3 billion was used to recapitalise the Rose Hall, Skeldon, and Enmore sugar estates while the remaining $4 billion was allocated to support rehabilitation works at the Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion sugar estates. A further $2 billion was included in Budget 2021 for capital works to be carried out at the various sugar estates across the country.

Cognisant of the fact that a diversion from the traditional bulk production of sugar is needed if the ailing industry is to recover and regain its vitality and position as a contributor to economic growth, the government has already initiated plans to ensure that by 2025, 61 per cent of industry sales come from value-added products.
Instead of being a liability to the National Treasury, the industry will soon be able to “stand on its own,” through the implementation of innovative mechanisms, Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, was reported as saying.

“In 2020, some 29 per cent of the industry’s sales were from the higher value packaged sugar. In 2021, we anticipate this will grow to some 39 per cent,” Minister Mustapha had said.
The overarching plan, however, is to ensure that a minimum of 61 per cent of the sales from the industry are generated from the value-added, packaged sugar line in four years.
“In 2021, the plan is to expand and further develop feasibility studies which support GuySuCo’s value-added potentials, including but not limited to ethanol and agro-energy,” Minister Mustapha had said.

The corporation has since set a target to produce approximately 97,420 metric tonnes of sugar by year-end and breathe new life into the country’s sugar industry. Ahead of what is expected to be a productive year for the industry, GuySuCo has secured an increase of US$30 per metric tonne for sugar from Trinidad and Tobago and has signed a one-year agreement with Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), which offers a much higher price for molasses.

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