Weekend Rains Led to Delivery Delays on Sugar Crop Opening Day

The Sugar Cane Production Committee is estimating that one point three million tons of sugarcane is available for grinding during the 2022/2023 crop. Due to the substantial amount of sugar cane to be milled, any time lost is costly.  But, it was not all smooth sailing this morning at A.S.R./B.S.I.’s compound. There were further delays, as the mill began accepting deliveries approximately three hours after the scheduled time. So what led to the delay? That is what we asked Marcos Osorio, the Executive Chairman of S.I.C.B., when we spoke with him via phone earlier today.

On the phone: Marcos Osorio

On the phone: Marcos Osorio, Executive Chairman, S.I.C.B.

“The delivery schedule was issued on Saturday evening and the cane load should have been at cue at nine this morning and as we speak at nine forty-five there is not one single truck at cue as yet. This means that farmers readiness or the different test groups that will start the delivery are not ready and yes we are ware and we were privy to the weather conditions we had over the weekend and we knew that preparedness in terms of the farmers burning and getting their cane ready for delivery this morning would be very challenging and that is what we are seeing at this time.”

Olivia Avilez

Olivia Avilez, Cane Farmers Relations Manager, A.S.R./B.S.I.

“This morning we started to receive cane at around twelve midday. We did get updates from the SCPC manager that there was not sufficient cane supply, mainly because of the drizzling over the weekend. When you have that farmers are not able to burn. So, we do understand that situation that happened over the weekend. But, here at the mill we are ready to start the crop season. We were ready from December nineteenth, as you now. But, today we are ready. We opened the gates since mid-day even though we don’t have sufficient cane supply and we are offloading those at the moment so that the farmers can return with cane supply.”