Sugar industry close to surpassing 2013 production target –Minister Ramsammy

MINISTER of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said Guyana is on the verge of surpassing the 2013 sugar production as the sugar industry is quietly approaching the 200,000 tonne production mark.

Dr. Ramsammy said he is still very optimistic that the 216,000- tonne target for 2014 will be reached as there are still four weeks before the crop is closed off.
“We have enough cane in the fields, and therefore once we have the right weather, I have no doubt that we will be able to meet that target. I am hopeful that by the end of next week we will surpass the 200,000 tonne target mark.”
Once this target is reached, then work will continue to reach the additional 16,000 tonnes that are required to surpass the target established for 2014.
Speaking on the issue of sugar export, the Agriculture Minister said the export markets are guaranteed and there is no difficulty in this area.
“In fact it would be nice for Guyana to go back to production of 250,000 to 3000,000 tonnes because we have the market.”
He noted that the industry had fallen short in the last few years in meeting the needs of the Caribbean market, hence an agreement was made with COTED allowing some of these countries to import from outside of the region.
However, earlier this year, the minister explained that Guyana indicated that it will meet the demand for the Caribbean suppliers.
“So we continue to supply markets in the Caribbean and Europe and we continue to have a demand for Guyana’s sugar and sugar products, so I’m not worried that in increasing our production that we may have market problems.”
Minister Ramsammy pointed out that this does not accentuate the problems the industry has had with the European market. Those problems, he noted, have nothing to do with standards or volume since Guyana has exported sugar for hundreds of years and meeting volumes and standards is not new.
“As we increase, the market will remain a significant part, our major difficulty in that market is the price. The price was reduced in 2010 by 43 percent resulting in Guyana losing some US$37 million annually and in part that contributed to the cash flow problem that GuySuCo had experienced.”
He explained that at present, sugar and sugar products prices are at a very low level. When the production level is not so high, there is the price difference that contributes to the problem, he explained as well.
Nonetheless, Dr. Ramsammy said his ministry is responding to that by ensuring that the industry continues to sell sugar to its regular destinations.
“We have had interest from non–traditional destinations, people want Guyana’s sugar and once the price is right we are going to explore the stability of those markets.”
He noted that Guyana will not exchange its old markets for new ones, but instead the industry will seek to sustain the traditional markets while exploring its other options.