Plywood production up 25% before Barama’s closure

Oct 27, 2010 News

– Sugar price up 75% but production poor

– Eggs plunge, tilapia increases 300%

Plywood production for the first eight months of this year rose sharply by 25%, as compared to the same period in 2009, before Barama Company Limited decided to close its Land of Canaan factory after a technical foul-up with its boiler component.
This is according to the latest figures being provided by the Ministry of Agriculture’s quarterly Commodity Market Update.
The increased production would be a hard blow to Barama especially with a booming housing sector and the increasing local demand.
Under the forestry sector, the volume of logs exported for the first eight months increased by 157% for the period being considered. There were also major increases in the exports of plywood and total timber in general. However, there were declines recorded for other forest products exports such as sawn wood, round wood and split wood.

Egg production for the first eight months plunged 40%, according to the government’s Commodity Market Update report.

The total value of forest products exported for the January to September increased by 17.67% for 2010, when compared to the same period for 2009. The major contributors to this increase were recorded for logs, plywood and total timber in general. There was a significant decrease in split wood and other value-added export sales.
A few of the forest products attracted increased export prices for the comparative period of January to September for 2010 over 2009. These were sawn wood (10.6%) and round wood (8.3%). However, there were decreases in the prices of logs by 5.4% and split wood by 10.2%.
RICE
The local rice production has increase significantly for the month of September to an amount of 26,138 metric tonnes (mt). This has resulted in total local production for the period of January to September to a quantity of 197,170 mt.
According to the CMU report, with a number of disasters worldwide affecting crops like rice, sugar and wheat, authorities are predicting prices will rise and Guyana may stand to benefit.
“One of the possible effects for Guyana is that there is the likelihood that the country’s rice might be able to attract higher prices on the international market. This is good at a time when the industry is heading for another bumper crop. However, the most likely and crucial impact of high and rising grains prices on Guyana will be their knock-on effect on international rice prices, through the high degree of substitution in feed formulas which can stem from the price of wheat and corn.”
The export of rice to the European Union increased by 24%, for the category of other counties, exports rose by 112%, for the comparative period of January to September for 2009 and 2010 where compared.
For the EU, the major markets for the increases in export sales were Belgium, Holland, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In the category of ‘Other countries’, exports rose in Panama and Venezuela. Overall, the quantity of rice export to the world markets increased by 25% for the period of January to September 2010, when compared to the same period in 2009.
SUGAR
According to the CMU report, GuySuCo’s second crop for the year began in August, 2010, after a short delay because of the inclement weather at that time. The tillage programme was adversely affected by constant rains. As of the end of September only 883.4 hectares of tillage was completed as against a crop to date budget of 4918.5 hectares.
Only an average of eight opportunity days were experienced so far for the second crop. This planting programme has been stagnated due to the limited completion of tilled land.
While cane quality is below average, cane yields on all locations have surpassed estimates. Reduced cane quality is due primarily to the frequent rainfall that is being experienced.
“With this current yield trend most estates will have to grind way into December to take-off the crop. The various estates must make all efforts to maximize on grinding opportunities; out-of-cane and factory downtime should be to the minimum.”
The report warned that the Skeldon factory will have to ensure that the factory grinds at an average of 220-230 tonnes of cane per hour at a minimum of 135 hours per week.
“If not, carry over canes will be inevitable.”
The world market price for raw sugar also showed a significant increase over the last four (4) months by 75%. This was reportedly supported by the buoyant demand and worries over Brazilian drought harming yields. There are reports that the global supply prospects will improve in the fourth quarter possibly triggering a price correction.
LIVESTOCK
In the livestock sector, the output of poultry production decreased by 16.88% from January to September for 2010 when compared to the same period for 2009. This decrease was accounted for by a third quarter decrease of 10.22%, with a major fall in output occurring in the month of August for 2010, when compared to 2009.
Beef production increased marginally by 0.86% from January to September for 2010 when compared to the same period for 2009. The third quarter when compared for 2009 and 2010, showed an increase of 5.78%. All months for this quarter for 2010, recorded increases in production when compared with 2009. August showed the highest increase for 2010 over 2009.
Mutton output increased by 4.39% from January to September for 2010 over the comparative period for 2009. The third quarter for 2010 recorded a 4.99% increase over the same period for 2009. The major increases in mutton output were noticed for the month of July and August.
The output for pork also increased for the comparative period of January to September for 2010 over 2009. There was a recorded increase of 13.20%, with the third quarter contributed 0.59% of that increase. Plausible increases were recorded for July and August.
Table eggs output for 2010 continued to decline for the third quarter. When comparing 2009 and 2010, output for the period January to September decreased by 39.64%, with the third quarter declining by 29.30% for the comparative period. Significant decreases were recorded for the months of July and August.
FISHERIES
Overall marine resources production increased by 9.08% for the first half of 2010, when compared to the same period for 2009. This increase in output of the marine resources was accounted for by a continuous rise in the production of the first and second quarter of 2010, over the same periods for 2009. Shrimp output increased by 16.32% for the first half of 2010, over the comparative period for 2009.
The overall increase in shrimp output was accounted for by an increase of 36.16% in seabob (industrial). There were also some significant increases in the output of prawns. However, significant declines were recorded for the output of seabob (artisanal) and whitebelly. The increase in the output for finfish was primarily accounted for by a significant increase of 44.55% in red snapper.
There was a general increase in the various sub-set of the aquaculture output for the first half of 2010. This was accounted for by a significant increase in the output of tilapia for the second quarter of 2010, by 300.0%. The second largest aquaculture output was querriman, followed by mullet, black shrimp and bashaw. Overall, aquaculture production seems to be on the rise, the CMU report release said.