The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) is aiming to produce over 50,000 tonnes of white sugar by the end of 2021 or early 2022, giving it the capacity to meet the demand of the local market and part of the regional market.
This was revealed during the ‘Partnership and Awareness Building Programme on Direct Consumption White Sugar’, an initiative held to more strategically engage key local and regional stakeholders, increase confidence in the regional sugar industry and promote its significance to economic, social and environmental development, locally and regionally, a GuySuCo release explained.
It was stated that the corporation, in collaboration with Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSIL) and the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), commenced the joint work programme to engage critical stakeholders on both brown and white sugars, as well as related trade matters in the Caribbean region. An essential aspect of the collaboration is the protection of the local and regional sugar market and advancement and creation of additional market opportunities.
The release related that company representatives met with officers from the Foreign Trade Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, when they discussed GuySuCo’s strategic plan for 2019 to 2021 and beyond. Included in the discussions were the production of value-added products such as white sugar; co-generation and cultural heritage (sugar) tourism and strengthening the working relationship with the Foreign Trade Department.
“Under the value-added aspect, white sugar (Plantation white) was specifically discussed. GuySuCo is aiming to develop the capacity to produce over 50,000 tonnes of white sugar by the end of 2021 or early 2022. This will be done at the Albion Estate and the factory will be reconfigured with the flexibility to produce both brown and white sugar. The local market consumption for white sugar is approximately 20,000 tonnes and the Corporation intends to meet all or most of the local market requirements,” the release said.
It was noted that annually, GuySuCo supplies the local market with 25,000 tonnes of brown sugar, the regional market with about 30,000 tonnes, the United States of America market with 12,000 -14,000 tonnes (under the Tariff Rate Quotas) and the remainder is sold mostly on the European Market at World Market prices which fluctuates between US$260 – $300.
The group also discussed applying the 40% Common External Tariff (CET) now only applied for non-regional brown sugar entering the regional market, to all sugars, including white sugars. This has reportedly been proposed by GuySuCo, the Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSIL) and other sugar producing countries in the region.
The company also raised concern over the strength of enforcement of the CET by relevant authorities such as the Customs Department, which can be improved by ensuring the proper classification of sugars entering Guyana and the region.
It was stated that representatives from the Foreign Trade Department provided invaluable advice and information on the Ministry’s efforts in areas of ‘Dumping’, the current process of revision of the CET, widening partnerships and GuySuCo aligning its products with trade agreements.
They also indicated that assistance could be provided to GuySuCo on identifying solutions for bottlenecks in the marketing of sugar with other Caribbean countries.
Going forward, they will be engaging representatives from the Guyana Revenue Authority’s Customs Department, and other meetings will be held with the Caricom Secretariat, Bureau of Standards, Private Sector Commission, Guyana Manufacturing Association, as well as manufacturers such as Banks DIH Limited, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and Fernandes in Suriname.
