THE Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) says if the weather holds it can meet its revised target of 282,000 tonnes with higher world market prices expected to offset projected losses from the revision of the 300,000 tonnes original target.
Deputy General Manager, Rajaindra Singh speaking to the Guyana Chronicle last week said: “We are still hoping to get as close as possible to our revised target. We were looking at 282,000 tonnes. But with the weather change and the carry over cane that we have, we don’t want to commit ourselves to anything different now.”
Singh noted that the quality of the carry over cane remains a concern. He said that while they were working heavily towards reaching the target, everything is still dependent on how long into December the dry weather remains.
He said that the higher prices on the world market for sugar will help to reduce what the corporation’s projected loss would be. “But that has to go along with production,” he said.
Some weeks ago, CEO, Paul Bhim told reporters that worker turnout did improve slightly, but the situation on the Demerara estates was worse than at Berbice.
He noted back then that the Uitvlugt estate did not have the turnout to sustain a 24 hour operation but said the situation was better at Wales, because of the cane farmers’ supplies and a turnout of about 50 percent.
He explained that the East Demerara estates were more of a concern, since the turnout has not improved as dramatically as it has in Berbice. He said the company was struggling in East Demerara to keep the Enmore factory fully supplied with cane.

Noting that the company’s production target is now 282,000 tonnes for 2011, Bhim said the company did suffer a decline in the quality of cane from the first crop of this year. This he blamed on carry over cane from the previous crop.
“Last year we brought over a lot of cane from 2010 into 2011, because of the bad weather we experienced, particularly at Skeldon,” he said, noting that canes were as old as two years and thus lost some of its quality, thereby contributing to the decline in production.
He said that the company was taking advantage of the increase in prices to buffer the shortfall in production because of various factors. He said that the sugar that Guyana is selling to the U.S. and CARICOM markets is traded in world market prices.
He said that the debts to the foreign banks are being paid on schedule. Guysuso was able to make a US$4.5M payment towards a US$17M Citibank loan that the company borrowed in March 2011.
The balance of it will be repaid by mid-December.
The company said that while it is “a little behind” with payments to creditors, both local and foreign, these payments will pick up; but as we pick up with our sugar shipments, that situation will improve rapidly by the end of this month,” he said.