The news that GUYSUCO will be re-entering the Surinamese market as a supplier of sugar is indeed extremely good news for the corporation because it is facing tough challenges for a few years now and it’s financial difficulties have been complicated by the cut in EU prices and the end to preferential prices.
Therefore the corporation could do well with new markets and in this case it is particularly welcome because it is our eastern neighbour with which we have historically enjoyed significant trade relations and heavy movement of people from both countries across the border.
According to GUYSUCO it inked an agreement with Combe Markt of Suriname which will see sugar from Guyana re-entering the market of our eastern neighbour after an absence since 2008.
Combe Markt is one of the largest supermarket chains in Suriname and controls over 25% of the market share in retail sugar sales.
Managing Director of Combe Markt, Mrs. Sharmila Lowtoe said this partnership is in line with efforts by the two countries to significantly improve their relationship and integration. She alluded to the fact that “her company has been doing business with GUYSUCO for over 15 years” and stated that she “was very pleased that the high quality sugar from Guyana will once again be entering the Surinamese market much to the delight of local consumers there”.
Mr. Bhim in his remarks indicated that the agreement serves to further highlight the regional and international demand for GUYSUCo’s world renowned sugar. He added that the corporation’s effort to increase its presence once again in both traditional and non-traditional markets is in line with the corporation’s aggressive drive to significantly increase its production over the coming years.
A very significant point which was made by Mrs. Lowtoe is that Surinamese are happy about the re-entry of the high quality sugar from this country. Indeed, the quality of our sugar has been one of its hallmarks ad has resulted in it gaining international recognition. So much so that some are trying to imitate our world renowned Demerara Crystals. This is one of the advantages which GUYSUCO has to make optimum use of in its international marketing strategies.
However, the key towards returning the corporation to profitability lies in its ability to significantly increase production which unfortunately has decreased markedly in recent years because of several factors which have been identified by a commission of inquiry set up by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.
The other key area is reducing the cost of production in order for our sugar to remain competitive and with the modern Skeldon Factory in operation and improvements in several others this should be achieved in a couple of years.
One of the crucial areas which cannot be ignored is industrial relations. If all other systems and inputs are in place but industrial relations is poor then production and efficiency will certainly suffer. In the recent past this is perhaps one of the areas which was neglected by the previous management. With the current acting CEO, Mr. Paul Bhim everyone is optimistic that industrial relations would take a better turn.
After all the sugar industry is the largest and is the backbone of the national economy and everything must be done to see it return to viability and profitability.
Sugar has a bright future as it is one of the major commodities being traded on the global market. According to ISO data world sugar trade averages 46 million tones per year, with nearly 90% based on ocean or seaborne trade. Raw sugar accounts for more than 50% of international trade volumes. Although many countries produce sugar ten countries dominate global raw sugar markets with Brazil, Australia, Thailand, Cuba, Guatemala, South Africa, Mauritius, Colombia, El Salvador and Fiji accounting for nearly 90% of global export trade.
Brazil as the largest producing and exporting country in the world accounted for 51% of global export trade in 2005, up from 21% in 2000. The Russian Federation, EU, US, South Korea and Japan are the world’s largest importing nations, although India emerged as an important importer in 2004 and 2005.