Projections for the sugar industry as outlined in the turnaround plan had indicated a huge production year in 2011 with a target of 359,000 tonnes, but the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) will likely chase a less ambitious target given the ongoing problems.
Reports are that GuySuCo will announce a 300,000 tonnes target ahead of its first crop. Production was dismal last year, with the industry finishing with just over 220,000 tonnes; the lowest it has been in many years.
Industry sources said that first crop grinding started at the Uitvlugt Estate on Monday and some 26 tonnes of sugar were declared as of yesterday; this increases the total production to 92 tonnes of sugar.
LBI and Albion are to commence their crop this weekend, and Blairmont Estate is to have its pre-crop brief today.
Skeldon is likely to start grinding next week, but the Skeldon factory is still undergoing repairs.
Reports yesterday indicated that the industry was hit with its first strike of 2011 when workers from both Wales and Uitvlugt downed tools demanding the payment of a one-week Sickness and Provident Benefit; Wales workers have been travelling to Uitvlugt to cut canes since the start of the new crop.
Canes have been burnt to load 291 punts, but the strike is expected to impact on GuySuCo’s operations at Wales; from losses in the field to the stoppage of grinding at the factory.
The main sugar union GAWU is yet to pronounce on the strike, but Stabroek News was told that the harvesting and crop husbandry workers of Uitvlugt are on strike with numbers pointing to 348 harvesters and 290 crop husbandry workers. In addition, 205 harvesters from Wales are also on strike.
A GuySuCo official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday that the one-week payment was previously made at the start of the first crop in the new year, but traditionally in the month of February. However, because of the desperation in the industry the 2011 crop started early.
“It is no secret that the corporation does not have cash made worse by the failure to meet the 2010 sugar production target by such a long margin.
As a result, there was no sugar to sell overseas to generate money during this period,” the official said.
The corporation is hoping that the early start will translate into sugar being sent overseas and generating money to pay the workers the one-week sickness benefit.
The industry’s blueprint for success focuses on the period 2009 to 2013, with performance extrapolated to 2018, and it has projected that production would go up as high as 400,000 tonnes by 2013.
But the blueprint also points to increased cultivation to achieve a production potential of 400,000 tonnes in another three years, and it also hails the defects-plagued Skeldon factory as the main driver of production in the industry.
Skeldon has been limping along for some time now and is not likely to operate at full capacity due to problems in the design, according to GuySuCo’s management. Management has since blamed Booker Tate for the design flaws and said that it plans to sue the British company; it would be a counter claim since Booker Tate has already filed a lawsuit against GuySuCo for monies owed.
The Skeldon factory was operating on one boiler for the second crop last year and will function throughout the first crop on the lone boiler. GuySuCo has said that repairs are likely to be completed on the second boiler by July this year.
In addition to problems with the cane supply and the factory, the corporation continues to struggle financially. GuySuCo closed last year with heavy debts; it owes close to $2.4 billion to its creditors, of which $1.6 billion is overdue for payment.
The ING Bank of Holland was owed another US$4 million and the local overdraft was at around $3.2 billion. Up to late last year, the corporation was in talks with government for a bailout.
