THE local sugar industry reportedly raked in US$27.1 million in 2018, some 44.1 per cent less than it did in 2017.
According to the Bank of Guyana in its Annual Report, its 54th to date, this out-turn was attributed to a 28.0 per cent decline in the volume of sugar exported and a decline in the average export price. Sugar prices averaged around US$0.27 per kilogram.
The average export price for sugar declined by 22.4 per cent, or US$100.8, to US$348.4 per metric tonne, compared to the US$449.2 per metric tonne it was being sold at in 2017.
Exports to the European Union (EU) under the ACP/EU Sugar Protocol was 47.9 per cent compared to the 57.2 per cent recorded in 2017.
There was, however, an increase of about 6 percentage points in exports to the CARICOM region, with the exported amount moving from 23.7 per cent in 2017 to 29.3 per cent last year.
The volume of sugar exported amounted to 77,796 metric tonnes, some 30,191 metric tonnes less than the level exported in 2017.
Overall sugar output decreased by 23.8 per cent, and represented 90.6 per cent of the targeted amount of 115,447 tonnes for 2018. Output was lower in both the first half and latter half of 2018 by 30.6 per cent at 34,451 tonnes and 20.0 per cent at 70,191 tonnes respectively.
This out-turn was due to structural reforms at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), unfavourable weather conditions, and a lower supply of quality canes.
But despite the foregoing odds, Guyana’s sugar industry is being restructured so that it can be revived, and as President David Granger assured workers at the Albion Sugar Estate in Berbice during a recent visit, the sector is going to recover from the difficulties it is facing.
Reports are that the president also made a commitment to engage with the unions representing sugar workers in order to chart a course forward for the industry’s development.
“Our sugar industry is going to recover from the difficulties it is facing,” President Granger said. “This sugar industry is not on the point of death… I am not here to bury the sugar industry; I am here to find out what your problems are.
I have come to fix things. We are in the process of restructuring this industry to respond to changes, which have taken place both externally and internally. It is being restructured so that it can be revived; so that we can make this industry not just sustainable but profitable. We are not here to merely survive; we are here to thrive! We are here to guarantee employees’ livelihoods. We are here to guarantee sugar’s position in the national economy. We are here to safeguard the rural economy,” he told sugar workers at the Albion Estate on Friday.
He said that a Corporate Restructuring Plan (CRP) was initiated following these processes of which he spoke, and that a part of the plan is to produce 147,000 metric tonnes of sugar in the shortest time possible.
