The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has so far produced just over 55,000 tonnes of sugar and is edging closer to its estimated target for this year of just over 60,000 tonnes, sources within the industry have said.
GuySuCo yesterday announced that the Albion Estate has exceeded its weekly production target by 4% in the week ending November 11, 2023. According to them, this was the fifth time the estate has exceeded its weekly production target since grinding operations began for the second crop of 2023.
According to sources, the Albion Estate is leading the industry as they have so far produced 28,572 MT. The Blairmont estate has so far produced 17, 210 MT and the other two estates together have produced 9227 MT to bring the industry to its 55,009 MT production so far.
Sugar output has been boosted by the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate in September of this year.
In a statement yesterday, GuySuCo said, “The (Albion) estate continues to remain focused on its crop target and is making all efforts to boost in its overall cane supply to the factory to improve on the factory efficiency during the second crop of 2023.”
As such, to this end some 36 bridges in the cultivation were rehabilitated – some of which were unusable for over 12 years – in order to improve access to the canes. Further some 22 tractors that were suffering from a shortage of spares were all repaired over the crop and 95% of the field machines were re-fitted with new tyres during October 2023 to increase the availability and reliability of these machines.
“Favourable weather conditions in 2023 during these ‘El Nino’ conditions have also played a major role in this Estate passing this target this week. As a gentle reminder, the rainy season started on November 4, 2020, November 11, 2021 and November 14, 2022 which contributed to a swift end to those crops”, the release said.
It added that the Hydromet Office of Guyana in its November 3, 2023 forecast has predicted below-normal rainfall for the remainder of November 2023 and these conditions are conducive to the industry harvesting the remaining canes identified for harvesting.
“Moving forward into 2024, the estate will continue to prioritize innovation and efficiency to further enhance its productivity and streamline its production process including the acceleration of its mechanization projects to ensure the cane supply increase as man and machine work side by side to unleash the potential of this Estate.”
According to the statement, Estate Manager, Yudhistir Mana, in expressing his satisfaction stated “‘the successful achievement of the target for the fifth time is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and effective strategies implemented by the estate.’ He took the opportunity to thank all of the workers, the Union, the sister Estate and the Management and the Board for their continued support on this final push to reach the Estate Annual Target.”
They said, “Management is confident that with continued commitment and dedication, the estate is well-positioned to maintain its success in future crops. This achievement will boost the income of workers at Albion Estate, who have worked a minimum of 80% of the days available for the week the target was achieved, and will earn themselves an additional day’s pay (tax free) through GuySuCo’s Weekly Production Incentive (WPI) programme.”
Quite unusually, the GuySuCo statement provide no information on production on the other estates: Utivlugt, Blairmont and the recently reopened Rose Hall estate.
