– worker numbers to drop to 4,000 by 2016
Guysuco is expected to be producing close to 100,000 tonnes of refined sugar by 2011 and some 120,000 tonnes by 2012 once the state-of-the-art facilities at the upgraded Skeldon estate get going, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said.
Harvesting was expected to be void of manual labour by 2016. Training and retraining for value added and diversification had begun, he said, and the number of employees declined as the work in the sugar industry became more mechanized.
Making an oral presentation on the operations of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco) to the Economic Services Committee at the Parliament Buildings on Friday, Persaud said Guysuco was expected to spend $8.4 billion next year as it continued its modernization programme, reducing to $2.3 billion in 2011 and rising again to $3.8 billion by 2016.
Meanwhile, Guysuco will be spending $13.2 billion in developing the industry this year including $9.7 billion on the Skeldon Estate and $820 million on the packaging plant at Enmore. Guysuco will be spending close to $1.5 billion of its own on other capital expenditure.
Dealing with the current level of employment, Persaud said that employee numbers this year were 19,000: some 15,000 permanent staff and 5,000 temporary. The total number was expected to decline to 4,000 persons by 2016.
Next year, Guysuco expected the number of persons employed to drop to about 17,000 consistent with Guysuco’s business and modernization plans.
“No one would be displaced as a result of the plan,” Persaud said, adding that Guysuco was carrying out “aggressive” training and retraining programmes which would allow some persons to be retained and some to be redeployed in other areas if they so desired. Persons were also being trained to be part of the mechanization programme.
Asked why the number of employees had dropped from 28,000 in 1992 to the current total, Persaud said this was because there had been a surge in labour in 1992 to facilitate the rehabilitation and improvement programme in the industry which the management led by Booker/Tate had begun to turn around. In addition, he said that some positions had become redundant when certain operations had been closed, including Versailles estate.
On the plans for the mechanisation of industry in relation to harvesting, Persaud said that for this year 4% of harvesting would be fully mechanised; 53 per cent would be semi-mechanized and 44% would be manual. By 2010 Guysuco expected 12% of the industry to be fully mechanized, 55% semi-mechanised and 33% manual. By 2016, it was expected that 47% of harvesting would be fully mechanized and 53 % would be semi-mechanised with no one engaged in manual harvesting.
In terms of exports for this year, Persaud said that where packaged sugar was concerned – that is Demerara Gold – the European market was expected to take up 2,000 tonnes; the North American market, 1,000 tonnes; and the Caricom market, close to 4,300 tonnes as well as 24,000 tonnes of bagged sugar.
The domestic market was expected to account for 21,000 tonnes of bagged sugar and close to 3,000 tonnes of packaged sugar, a total of 24,000 tonnes. The total export market was expected to be close to 262,000 tonnes.
Exports by the year 2016 were expected to move to 421,000 tonnes with domestic consumption not expected to be much higher than it was at present.
Meanwhile, Persaud said that sugar production for this year had been targeted at 284,814 tonnes. The Berbice estates would account for 181,953 tonnes and the Demerara estates, 102,861 tonnes.
Persaud said Guysuco had projected Berbice production to go up to 242,012 tonnes by 2010, and the Demerara estates to 125,441 tonnes, giving a combined total of 367,453 tonnes.
These figures were expected to almost double by 2016 with the Berbice estates producing 289,467 tonnes and the Demerara estates, 156,451 tonnes, with a combined total of 445,918 tonnes. Persaud used the 2016 date in keeping with the objectives of the Guysuco business plan.
Expecting increased production over the next few years but not this year from the Skeldon estate, which is in the final stages of being upgraded, Persaud said the figure this year had been pegged at 37,308 tonnes. It was expected that production would double to 68,127 tonnes next year; to 88, 839 tonnes in 2010; and to 112,651 tonnes in 2016.
With the developments at the Skeldon estate, it was projected that while Berbice would account for 181,953 tonnes of sugar this year, next year the production figures was anticipated to reach 211,184 tonnes and by 2016 this number would be 289,467 tonnes.
Asked where Guysuco would be sourcing the cane required for the output, Persaud replied that the bulk would be provided by Guysuco as a consequence of increased cultivation but a proportion would be obtained from private farmers.
Skeldon would require 470,255 tonnes of cane this year and private farmers were expected to provide 15,769 tonnes of cane. Next year Skeldon would need 781,844 tonnes of cane and some 1.138 million tonnes would be required by 2016.
With the production of refined sugar, it was expected that Guyana would cease the importation of this product to meet local demand in the beverage and food sectors.
In terms of the projected sugar price it was expected that the current price of 474 euros per tonne would decline to 409 euros per tonne next year, and this would be further reduced to 335 euros by 2010 “when it is expected we will feel the full effects of the price cuts in sugar by the European Union,” Persaud said. Before the price-cut took effect a tonne of sugar was sold for 523 euros on the European Union market.
The average price for raw sugar on the North American market is expected to be US$400 by 2016 and between US$517 to US$439 on the Caribbean market for refined, packaged and bagged sugar.
In terms of the sale of molasses, Persaud noted that Guysuco was getting close to US$90 per tonne from Demerara Distillers Limited and was selling to Barbados at a cost of US$133 per tonne. Some other markets were buying the molasses for US$144 per tonne, but molasses prices had begun to dip and some places were now buying at US$85 per tonne.
(Miranda La Rose)
