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Deal sealed for US$20M white sugar refinery at Wales
…companies eye CARICOM market with 100,000 tonnes annual production
(Kaieteur News) – Guyana’s first-ever white sugar refinery, a US$20 million joint venture between GAICO Construction and General Services Inc. and US-based Sucro Limited is set to position the country as a major supplier of refined sugar to the CARICOM market.
The project, hailed as historic by Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, was formalised Tuesday evening during a signing ceremony at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in Georgetown. The refinery will be constructed at the former Wales Sugar Estate, Region Three, and is expected to come online in 2026. Once operational, the plant will produce 100,000 tonnes of refined sugar annually, with room for expansion, a significant shift in a region that imported 200,000 tonnes valued at US$180 million in 2024.
CEO of GAICO, Komal Singh and CEO of Sucro, Jonathan Taylor, sign the joint venture for the US$20 million sugar refinery
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) press release, the Caribbean imports around 200,000 tonnes of refined sugar each year, totalling US$180 million in 2024. With the new plant projected to produce 100,000 tonnes per year and designed with scalability for future expansion, Guyana is poised to become a major contributor to the region’s refined sugar needs.
During the signing ceremony, Dr. Singh said the project represents a major transformation of the sugar industry and a defining moment for Guyana’s agro-industrial future. He explained that the project aligns directly with Guyana’s leadership role in advancing CARICOM food security, including the 25 by 2030 initiative championed by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali. “We have always taken our regional obligations seriously… and our preferred access to the CARICOM market makes this project even more significant,” Minister Singh said.
Speaking on the centrality of sugar to the development of Guyana, Dr. Singh reflected on centuries of economic and cultural history, noting that sugar cultivation shaped the earliest forms of economic activity in the colonies, entire communities grew out of the plantation system, and the industry brought generations of Guyanese ancestors to these shores. He reminded that the PPP/C, throughout every period of governance, has remained unwavering in its commitment to protecting, modernising, and strengthening the industry, even through challenges such as the loss of the preferential European market and the devastation caused by the closure of estates between 2015 and 2020.
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