Sugar stakeholders say 2011 crop was “successful”

Last November 23, with the producing arm of the sugar industry, Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) Limited, in a financial shortfall due to the pulling out of its international partners from an overdraft facility a few weeks before the all-important final payment to cane farmers following a disappointing 2010 crop season, forcing them to delay that payment, the Government of Belize brought all stakeholders together and hammered out an agreement.

The agreement was for BSI to produce 110,000 tons of sugar from 1.1 million tons of cane delivered, and for the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers’ Association (BSCFA) to produce 4/5ths minimum pure cane and control the quality and delivery of the cane for processing through a delivery by appointment system.

At that time, the leaders on both sides agreed that nothing less would save the ailing industry. Joey Montalvo, CEO of BSI, had said simply, “Give me good quality cane and I’m gonna put that cane through into the mill, and give you good, quality sugar,” and added, “It is unthinkable that we could even countenance the thought of having a poor crop next year because that will certainly be detrimental to securing the future of the sugar industry…”

Alfredo Ortega, the chairman of the BSCFA, had seconded Montalvo by saying, “Really it is not only the lives of six [thousand] farmers but everyone in the north that depends on the sugar industry and it transcends more to the country of Belize. We as farmers, we in the BSCFA as leaders are committed to work very closely with the SCPC and the SICB and BSI to reform within the industry. It is time for us in a no-turn-back point. If we do that we are killing ourselves as an industry…”

The crop started on schedule, but in February plans were nearly derailed when both steam turbines providing electricity for the factory as well as power to Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), went down within days of each other. It took some three weeks to get back at least one of the turbines, which had been fouled by heavier-than-usual impurities in the boiler water, on line, and while losses were mainly theoretical in terms of sugar sales, the farmers sustained heavy losses in the fields due to infestations of rats and froghoppers during the long wait.

And so, the decision was made to close the crop about three weeks earlier than scheduled. Today, Friday, was the last day for deliveries; Sunday is the last day for milling operations.

Provisional figures given to us by marketing officer for BSI, Damian Gough, indicated that as of Thursday, 840,678 tons of sugar cane had been delivered to the Tower Hill factory, about 1,600 tons more than the figure at this time in the crop season last year (which ultimately ended with some 1.1 million tons delivered), from which some 98,101 tons of sugar were made in 24 weeks, or 168 crop days, six weeks short of the usual 30.

The reasons for the shortened season, according to Gough and confirmed by Ortega, are that last season’s extended crop left some 250,000 tons of cane in the fields to mature, which had not matured as scheduled; that a drought in the North earlier this year removed needed moisture from the plants, and that with the start of the rainy season expense needed to be avoided for cañeros unable to get to the remaining cane in the fields.

While Gough conceded that BSI was “disappointed” by the shortfall, and so are the farmers, much strides were made in terms of overall improvement in sugar production. The purity of the cane juice has been running between 86 and 88 percent throughout the season, and the all important tons cane/tons sugar ratio (TC/TS) is hovering around 8.5 to 1, a marked improvement from the 11.73 of last season. At some points during this season it hovered below 8.

Gough and Ortega told Amandala that the delivery by appointment system created prior to the start of the season, in which each branch comes to the factory at a specific point during the day, has been a help to farmers, keeping them from the usual long cues and helping them to deliver a fresher product. Apart from the extended drought early in the season, the weather was mostly favourable to the industry.

All in all, things are looking up in the North. Gough told us that BSI has been selling again in the U.S. market at high prices, which it had previously been unable to take advantage of due to low production, and in the European Union (EU) market, some direct consumption sugar (the kind we use here in Belize as opposed to the bulk raw sugar that we export) at the rate of 5,000 tons is being sold.

Ortega told us that the farmers’ rat and froghopper infestation problem first manifested in December and became critical during the break in production at the factory, so much so that some farmers lost their entire crop to the pests. The BSCFA believes that it is an extension of last year’s dismal season, and has moved to help farmers overcome it.

Ortega paid tribute to his fellow cañeros: “I really applaud and feel very proud of my fellow farmers for their performance in this season. If not for their effort we would not be here singing this new tune. And we could have done even better.”

He added that once farmers appreciated what the industry was up against, they cooperated for the most part and as a result quality went up.

The second payment for farmers is due, and the BSCFA estimates it at about $63.60 per ton, though farmers will be paid by quality. They will also benefit from the developments in the markets to which BSI sells.

We also asked both men about the local market for sugar, which has seen a crippling shortage in recent weeks. We will have their comments on that in a separate story.

source: amandala