The Guyana Sugar Cor-poration (GuySuCo) says it has recorded its highest week of production since 2012 due to an increase in turnout among cane harvesters.
“The improved cane supply to the factories resulted in better factory performance,” GuySuCo said in a statement on Monday, while announcing that it produced 9,441 tonnes of sugar in its seventh week of production.
In particular, GuySuCo credited “major contributions” from Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall and Blairmont estates, which it said surpassed their weekly production target, as well as a 95% achievement by the Wales Estate.
GuySuCo noted that Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall and East Demerara estates all recorded an over 70% attendance by cane harvesters during the seventh week. Further, it noted an improvement in attendance at Wales Estate, from below 50% for the last three crops, to above 60% for the current crop, after meetings with the workers’ union about the situation.
The second crop has not been without issues and GuySuCo cited strikes as well as a poor turnout of 56% among harvesters at the Blairmont Estate. As a result, Blairmont recorded a punt weight of 5.42 tonnes, which was less than the 6.36 tonnes industry average.
In contrast, GuySuCo said, the Skeldon Estate nearly outperformed the others, only falling behind Albion. Skeldon produced 2,116 tonnes of sugar last week, while Albion produced 2,166 tonnes.
Additionally, GuySuCo reported that Skeldon has exported 1,184,000 KWh using bagasse fuel during the last week and to date 24,184,000 KWh have been exported to the national grid.
Skeldon commenced grinding two weeks after the official start of the second crop and to date has produced 7,774 tonnes of sugar. The estate is expected to surpass its dismal first crop output of just 8,000 tonnes by the end of this week. The last crop target for Skeldon was set at 17,000 tonnes.
Given the rate of production, Skeldon is projected to produce over 30,000 tonnes of sugar for the second crop.
The troubled Skeldon estate, inclusive of the US$110 million factory, has been under scrutiny since its start-up due to its inability to deliver promised production rates.
GuySuCo currently produces sugar at US$0.40 per pound but Skeldon’s cost of production is higher than the industry average.
Meanwhile, although production has significantly increased in the second crop, GuySuCo has not adjusted either the second crop production target of 146,300 tonnes or the overall 2015 target of 227,443 tonnes. The second crop production total currently stands at 46,883 tonnes.
