THE Albion/Port Mourant Sugar Estate has surpassed its production target for the second consecutive week, ending March 26, 2022, according to Goy Romain, the estate’s Production Manager.

Production exceeded its original target by 6.3 per cent, a continuation from the previous week’s performance, when the estate surpassed its target by a whopping 7.9 per cent.

Romain disclosed that the current achievements come even as the estate continues to suffer from poor cane yields as a result of the devastating floods of 2021, which directly affected plant performances at the estate, over a 12-month period, beginning in May 2021.

“This adverse situation is expected to subside in the second crop of 2022, weather permitting,” the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) said in a brief statement on Saturday.

Romain posited that the estate’s current achievement is attributed to the combined efforts of the field and factory workers who closely monitored every aspect of the value chain to bring greater consistency to the production process.

“For the second successive week, qualified employees at the Albion/Port Mourant Estate diligently worked to achieve 80 per cent or more days for the week,” Romain said.

Further, over a two-day period, 24.2 mm of rainfall on the estate slowed the production process. However, Romain said that the team was able to seize the momentum by extending working hours on the fields during the dryer days.

As a much deserved reward, the workers were able to earn themselves an additional day’s pay, tax-free. That, Mr. Romain believes, will encourage and boost workers’ morale and future turn out in the fields. It is also likely to bode well for the socio-economic situation in the Corentyne.

In providing more specifics, Romain noted that the overall factory performance as well as sugar recovery is showing positive results, attesting to the “pol extraction” which stood at some 92 per cent.

“This means that the factory is performing better as it extracts more of the sucrose content from the sugar cane plant,” Romain indicated.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo, Sasenarine Singh, opined that the developments at the estate can be directly attributed to the investments made by the Government of Guyana into the capital rehabilitation programme.
According to the CEO, the support from the current administration is encouraging, as it will most likely boost recoveries and contribute to more tonnes of sugar being produced, for every tonne of cane supplied to the factory. This is in keeping with the corporation’s Five-Year Strategic Plan.

GuySuCo is aiming at a sugar production target of 20,260 tonnes across the industry for the first crop of 2022, which is expected to conclude on April 30, 2022. At this point in time, the fields at Berbice estates are well on target with their harvesting plan.

Ever since its 2017 decimation, where four sugar estates were closed by the previous A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), GuySuCo has been on a gradual path to recovery, making significant tries towards making itself more self-sufficient and sustainable.

As an almost immediate remedy to tackle the institution’s long existing financial challenges, efforts were made by the current administration to change the manner in which the corporation sells its sugar.

A conscious decision was taken to reduce the sale of bulk sugar and invest in the packaged product which is in wider demand, and can be sold at a higher cost. In making that switch, the company’s annual losses have plummeted from $2.6 billion to $825 million.

This means, that by simply redesigning its marketing and sales strategy, GuySuCo has managed to save approximately $1.7 billion annually.

“Changing the sales mix is one of our primary short-term strategy [sic], and it has worked,” CEO Singh said in a previous interview with this newspaper.

He explained then that, by having GuySuCo place special emphasis on packaged sugar, the corporation has managed to “unleash some unexploited potential in the revenue stream at very short notice.”

Elaborating on GuySuCo’s savings, Singh highlighted that “If we [Guyana] sell[s] sugar on a boat, it goes for US$300 to US$350 per metric ton. If we sell the sugar in a bag, it goes for about$US600 a metric ton.”

However, with the packaged sugar, Singh said that Guyana can sell the ‘Demerara Gold’ for as much as US$700 US per tonne. In another effort to be more efficient and sustainable, GuySuCo is also looking to procure equipment necessary for the implementation of a mechanical harvesting system.

“Mechanical harvesters are becoming mandatory,” Singh related. He explained that, so far, the average turnout rate for cane-cutters across the six estates is approximately 70 per cent.

“We need a mechanical harvester to do the other 30 per cent of harvesting for us,” the GuySuCo official indicated previously.
He said that the industry is moving ambitiously towards achieving 30 per cent mechanical harvesting by 2025, at least across the Albion, East-Berbice Corentyne, and the Blairmont, West Coast Berbice estates, respectively.

He assured this newspaper, however, that this will not result in the loss of jobs for cane-cutters, since the mechanical harvester would just be filling the existing gap. “People will move from basic manual labour, to semi-mechanical systems,” Singh envisioned.

He said that the mechanical systems would also allow for the estates to function much better amid unsuitable weather, as was experienced during the 2021 floods.

In another effort to save money, GuySuCo is also looking to diversify its operations and examine the possibility of advancing its renewable-energy initiatives, as recommended in a International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2021 report, which examined the socio-economic impact of the closure of four sugar estates by the former government.

In his recommendation, author of the report, Dr. Thomas , pointed to the need for GuySuCo to advance its cellulosic ethanol production as a source of renewable, low-carbon energy that could possibly boost the very profitability of the sugar industry.

“Consideration must also be given to developing a bio-refinery to produce other high-valued chemicals from lignocellulose, both as a strategy for reducing costs, and also for further diversifying the industry,” Dr. Singh noted.

He said that the bio-refineries would make use not only of bagasse, but will also use other kinds of biomass, including rice straw, sawdust, etcetera. That, he explained, will also allow for the production of several commercial-scale, high-valued co-products that will enhance the profitability of the core cellulosic ethanol facility.

GuySuCo has since convened a diversification committee to consider all options. Singh said that the industry has a lot that it has to do, but these have to be done with “a lot of common sense.”

Nonetheless, in recognising the continued efforts of GuySuCo’s staff, the management team has urged all families of sugar workers to continue to provide consistent support to the cane harvesters and other estate employees.