The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has declared that the second crop for 2019 has recorded a 23 per cent shortfall and not 35 per cent as claimed by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE).
In a joint statement on October 4 the unions said that at a meeting with GuySuCo it was learnt that the second crop is nearly 35 per cent below its anticipated production and pointed to a number of equipment breakdowns as a possible reason.
However in a brief statement yesterday the corporation explained that the actual production deficit at the time of the union’s statement was 23% of the revised production schedule and that deficit was due primarily to the late start of the crop.
“Given the extended rainy season which continued uncharacteristically into August, the second crop which was initially projected to commence in the last week of July, was pushed back into the third week of August, thereby necessitating a revised production schedule,” the statement notes before acknowledging that in addition to the late start, there were problems with factory equipment on all locations which further compounded the situation.
GuySuCo however maintained that most of those factory issues have since been resolved, while the others are being addressed before expressing confidence that the production targets for the second crop would be achieved once favourable conditions prevail and the canes are harvested.
In their statement, the unions observed that the 18-week crop is in its seventh week of production and as of September 28th, 21,869 tonnes of sugar was produced when, in keeping with the production schedule, the figure ought to have been 33,892 tonnes.
“…GuySuCo, at that time, was in a deficit of 12,023 tonnes or was nearly 35 per cent below its anticipated production,” the statement said.
Disaggregation of the data showed that the Albion Estate produced 10,261 tonnes of sugar, below its 16,585 tonnes target for the period while the Blairmont Estate produced 6,624 tonnes of sugar rather than the 9,882 tonnes target. At the Uitvlugt Estate, 4,984 tonnes of sugar were produced, below the 7,425 tonnes target and Industry managed to produce 21,869 tonnes of sugar rather than the target of 333,892 tonnes. The figures represent shortfalls of 38.1, 32.9, 32.9 and 34.6 per cent respectively.
GuySuCo has not provided any numerical information beyond the different percentage points.
