Guyana to suspend brown sugar shipment to SVG

The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GUYSUCO) has announced that it will be suspending shipments of brown sugar to this country at the end of the month.{{more}}

In a letter sent to sugar importer, the Agricultural Input Warehouse Ltd, on March 22, 2012, GUYSUCO’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Rajaindra Singh explained that “the extensive and prolonged rainfall season in February 2012, followed by our continued erratic industrial climate has forced the Corporation to review its outlook on production projections.

“It is with deep regret that the Corporation has to advise that it will be unable to sustain supplies to St Vincent and the Grenadines for the remainder of 2012,” Singh wrote in the letter.

This now means that the commodity may have to be sourced from other sources, Lennox Francis, the Input Warehouse’s General Manager said.

“The price on the regional market is between 15 and 20 per cent higher than GUYSUCO,” he further explained.

Francis told SEARCHLIGHT that a shipment was expected at the end of the month and that there was enough of the product in stock to last until later on in the year.

However, he warned that the price of the product may increase, but warned those shopkeepers who may want to increase the price, saying that the price of brown sugar is controlled.

He explained that the existing price was $1.30 per pound in area 1, $1.33 in area 2 and $1.36 in area 3.

“So we need to monitor the situation to ensure that persons aren’t overcharging,” he said.

Consumers will not be the only ones affected by this development however, as Francis explained that farmers will also be affected, as there will be an impact on the cost of fertilizer.

According to the input warehouse’s GM, the price of a sack of fertilizer is subsidized through the profits generated from the sale of brown sugar.

He explained that currently $20 is taken off a sack of fertilizer, but that figure may have to be adjusted.

A decision is pending, however, Francis said, as he was still in the process of taking in quotations from potential suppliers.(DD)