GuySuCo battles rains, sugar production at standstill

By Ravena Gildharie

 

Activities in the sugar industry have halted for more than a week now as heavy rains batter cane fields and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) now faces a setback in production of some 20,000 tonnes – approximately Gy$2 billion worth of sugar.

Speaking to Guyana Times International on Wednesday, GuySuCo Chief Executive Officer Paul Bhim, while making it clear that this is not a loss of canes, sugar or income for the industry, said it is a missed opportunity and is based on the corporation’s weekly target of about 10, 000 tonnes of sugar.

While the rains have caused a standstill for one week now, the CEO explained that it could be a few more days before production resumes fully because the dams would take time to dry after the rains have stopped. When the dams are wet, the punts with canes cannot be hauled to the factories.

Emphasising the current frustrations due to the rains, Bhim said the most hard-hit estates so far are those at Albion and the East and West Demerara, where the water levels have risen significantly. The situation is more severe at the West Demerara locations. Rose Hall, Skeldon and Blairmont are the only three estates which are not in such a bad position as the others.

GuySuCo has since had to divert attention to getting the excess water off the land in the affected areas, both in its cultivation areas and nearby communities linked to the corporation’s drainage system.

To date, GuySuCo has produced 42,400 tonnes of sugar but most of the factories have since closed, as there are no canes and harvesting is at a standstill. According to Bhim, a few of the factories had a limited amount of canes that were crushed this week. Despite the setback by the rains, GuySuCo has not revised its production target of 138,000 tonnes this crop although cognisant that there is limited opportunity to realise this goal. Nevertheless, management is hoping to maximise production when given the opportunity.

Given the current setback also, the corporation recognises that it might very well have to carry over canes to the next crop.

On the export side, a shipment of sugar is soon to be dispatched to Europe while another vessel is expected shortly. Based on the current supplies and halt in production though, GuySuCo might not have enough sugar for the latter shipment if production does not resume soon.