GuySuCo blames heavy rainfall, labour shortages for first crop shortfall

May 21, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has attributed its underperformance in the 2025 First Crop to heavy rainfall and ongoing labour shortages, saying the shortfall cannot simply be blamed on leadership.

In a statement on Monday, the state-entity said that it is undisputed that GuySuCo’s first crop production stood at 15,980 metric tonnes, falling short of the target.

GuySuCo Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Cheong

“But this must be analyzed in the context of the prevailing circumstances and not be attributed to lack of leadership by the CEO [Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Paul Cheong,” it was stated.

In fact, GuySuCo blamed heavy and persistent rainfall for severely negatively impacting their harvesting schedule, factory efficiency, and field access.

“Recorded rain fall has significantly surpassed the long-term average with Berbice estates recording 212% and Demerara 160% of the established long term mean (LTM) with 53% of the available days being classified as wet days,” it was stated.

The entity argued that this is the reality of increasingly erratic climatic conditions negatively affecting agricultural operations globally.

GuySuCo also defended its decision to continue harvesting despite difficult field conditions, especially at the Albion estate. “The decision to continue harvesting, particularly at Albion, was made to reduce losses by attempting to take out as much ripen canes as possible in the safest and most economical way. Leaving canes unharvested would have been even more disastrous, both financially and agronomically,” it was stated.

Further, the corporation also noted improvements in factory performance and cane yield. GuySuCo said, “TC/TS (Tons of cane per ton of sugar) at Albion during the favourable harvesting days reached as low at 11.38.”

It was also disclosed that the factory down time across the industry reduced significantly by 22% when compared to similar period in 2024. Further, cane yields in 2025 increased by 11% in the industry.

Moreover, labour availability remains a pressing issue. The entity said, “GuySuCo, like many agricultural enterprises globally, is grappling with declining labour availability; this is not a new issue, and certainly not of Mr. Cheong’s doing. The Corporation has embarked on mechanization, not only to fill the labour gap but to improve cost-efficiency over time.”

Looking ahead, GuySuCo said it is preparing for the second crop by reviewing timelines, field operations, and logistics to recover as much as possible from the canes that will be carried over. However, this shortfall comes despite ambitious national projections. This year, government allocated $13 billion for GuySuCo. The corporation noted that at the end of the first crop GuySuCo had indeed utilized a portion of the allocation, but not the exaggerated figure of $9 billion.

During the 2025 national budget presentation, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh said the sugar sector is projected to grow by 115.4% this year, with a production target of approximately 101,000 metric tonnes. This follows a 21.8% contraction in 2024, when GuySuCo produced 47,103 metric tonnes caused by the impact of El Niño, compounded by labour shortages across the industry throughout the year.

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