GuySuCo set to surpass production target

– more focus to be placed on packaged sugar

Another milestone will be achieved in the local sugar industry, as the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) expects that by the end of this week, sugar production for this crop will reach 100,000 tonnes. Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, in an exclusive interview Monday, told Guyana Times International that when this feat is achieved, the country would have produced 172,000 tonnes of sugar thus far for this year.
This will exceed the projected production of 160,000 tonnes of sugar for this crop, with seven to nine weeks of production remaining for the year.
It would also mean that the sugar industry would have easily surpassed the 237,000- tonne production target for 2012, Dr Ramsammy said.
Meanwhile, the export of sugar on a daily basis continues, and more focus is being placed on increasing the production of packaged sugar.
“Currently, Blairmont Factory is meeting its 10,000 tonnes target of packaged sugar and we expect the Enmore Factory to exceed its target of 20,000 tonnes of packaged sugar for the year. This will be the first time in the country’s history that we have passed a production of 20,000 tonnes of packaged sugar. With 20,000 tonnes of packaged sugar from Enmore and 10,000 tonnes from Blairmont, it would total 30,000 tonnes of packaged sugar that Guyana has produced in 2012 and this is a tremendous achievement,” Dr Ramsammy stated.
The sugar corporation is also preparing for the local launch of its “Demerara Brown Sugar”, which is being produced at the Enmore Sugar Factory and is already available in the Trinidadian market.
It was further noted that the Skeldon Sugar Factory, which is the flagship of Guyana’s sugar modernisation plan, is now producing at the expected rate. Dr Ramsammy explained that in spite of recent challenges, the factory is reaching its daily production target of more than 400 tonnes of sugar each day.
To date, sugar exports have exceeded 125,000 tonnes and are expected to exceed 200,000 by the end of this year. More than 25,000 tonnes of bagged and packaged sugar and 100,140 tonnes of bulk sugar have been exported.
The agriculture minister noted that this would not have been possible without the cooperation of farmers, since they play a vital role in the sustenance of Guyana’s sugar industry.