GuySuCo getting “better prices” for sugar

– Bhim says production shortfalls being addressed

By Michael Younge

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) said it has taken aggressive measures to improve its profitability while at the same time creating a more efficient management structure that would result in improved production.
The entity has been the centre of public criticisms for its inability to get its act together and address competently its shortfalls while at the same time meeting its set goals and objectives. The corporation’s Chief Executive Officer Paul Bhim speaking in a recent interview with Guyana Times International on Wednesday afternoon said while many of the old problems plaguing the industry have not been fully addressed, he is satisfied with the gains made by management in a number of areas.
“When I took over from the previous CEO, Booker Tate had just gone and we were in the process of building a new management team and I think that has gone quite well,” he said.
Bhim explained that the new managers are in place and have gained “quite a bit of experience” as he noted that more changes can be expected under their leadership over the next few years. He was convinced that the entity had managed to create “stability” within its senior management rank which has led to better management of resources that fall under the direct control of the sugar company.
The CEO also pointed to the entity’s ability to commission and make fully operational the new Enmore Packaging Plant, which could package more than 40,000 tonnes of sugar per year for specific markets.  “There are ready markets for that sort of sugar and it does fetch quite a premium price as well, and so if we can produce the sugar, we can certainly sell it, and we can sell it at a very good price,” Bhim noted.

Addressing the issue of pricing, the CEO explained that the company has managed to undertake several initiatives that will see it receiving better prices for the locally produced sugar. “We have done fairly well with respect to the prices we have been getting for our sugar and molasses,” Bhim noted, stating that the latter commodity alone has managed to rake in a whopping Gy$ 3 billion last year.
“We have negotiated a new long-term price with our main customer in Europe, Tate and Lyle,” he noted, while arguing that Guyana has managed to attract better prices from Caricom countries.
Guyana, he added, was enjoying better prices from Suriname and Trinidad. “We had to make up some of the revenue lost via shortfall in production of sugar with better prices,” the CEO argued, stating that they have “kept the corporation fairly well” over the last couple of years.

Production target
On the issue of not being able to meet its target, Bhim explained that this is largely due to the company’s inability to meet the cane yields benchmark. “Our biggest problem is cane yields,” he admitted, stating that “we just have not been getting the cane yields we have been accustomed to.”
The CEO also pointed out that there are several reasons for this, bringing the now common argument to the fore about the adverse effects of the weather on the company’s ability to meet the sugar production targets. “Weather is very important,” he noted, arguing that most times harvesting, which requires much sunlight, is usually affected when this does not occur. Worker turnout is also affected whenever there are unfavourable weather patterns.

Migration
Asked about the other challenges affecting the industry, the CEO stated these include migration and loss of skilled workers and experienced staff.
“We have lost a lot of skills in the industry not at the top level of management, but at that critical middle management level,” he noted, stating that that level of employees are important to the management of the sugar estates countrywide.
Bhim also admitted that there was inefficiency at various levels of the organisation, which crept in “due to lack of experience as well”. “There are management issues on the estates, and at the head office that we need to correct and we could only correct them through training.”
He said there was need for senior management to be more involved in supervising the bell loading and tillage that takes place at nights (These are fully mechanised processes). “We are putting more senior management in the fields,” he asserted.