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Sugar targeted at 13,000 tonnes less this year
– repaired Skeldon factory readied for Sept. grind
Skeldon factory is expected to be in operations next month after undergoing
emergency repairs to a boiler
The country’s sugar target is set to be around 13,000 tonnes less than last year, with its newest factory expected back on line by September.
Announcing its second crop outlook yesterday, the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation, disclosed that the target is 124,844 with the annual production now set at just over 174,000 tonnes.
GuySuCo would be banking heavily on Skeldon factory, a US$200M investment which was commissioned in 2009 but failed to fire because of technical issues. The factory was taken out of commission for the first crop, as engineers warned about the unsafe conditions with one of its boilers.
According to GuySuCo yesterday, Blairmont estate was the first to start grinding for the second crop, on 17th July, followed by Rose Hall on 27th July and Albion on 5th August.
“Sugar production for the crop-to-date as at 11th August is 5,725 tonnes – the total for the year-to-date is 55,331 tonnes and the target for the second crop is 124,844 tonnes,” GuySuCo said.
Skeldon and Uitvlugt Estates (Factories), West Demerara, will commence their crop by the first week of September.
According to GuySuCo, the average harvesters’ attendance for this week at the three estates that are currently grinding were: Albion 59%, Rose Hall 67% and Blairmont 64% – making the industry’s average at 63%.
“The corporation is encouraging harvesters to turn out to work and ensure that their estates harvest all of the sugar cane in the cultivations. The Corporation is also appealing to residents in communities around estates to encourage employees, particularly harvesters and planters, to turn out to work.”
Sugar, once the biggest earner of foreign exchange for the State, has been taking a brutal beating, with aging estates, lack of funds and a crippling 36 percent price cut by Europe, GuySuCo’s biggest customer, compounding matters.
Sugar has remained a major foreign exchange earner, but Government in the last decade has been forced to plunged billions of dollars annually to keep the 17,000 worker-strong industry alive.
Last year, in cost-cutting, unpopular measures for sugar workers, the 100-year-old Wales factory closed operations, with some workers shifted to Uitvlugt, the nearest estate.
Two more, Rose Hall and Enmore, are said to be targeted for closure, with the administration making it clear that the industry is draining the limited resources of the country.
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