B.S.I. Says There’s No Shortage of Sugar at the Mill

There is no shortage of plantation white sugar from the miller.  That’s what B.S.I. confirmed today, amid reports of a sugar scarcity in various municipalities.  The steep cost of that commodity in neighboring Guatemala and Mexico has apparently led to Belizeans transporting large quantities of sugar across the border where it can be sold for a significantly higher profit.  Director of Finance, Shawn Chavarria, explained from B.S.I.’s end what has been taking place that is resulting in the dearth.

Shawn Chavarria

Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance, B.S.I.

“We continue to receive reports that, you know, some communities are unable to obtain sugar.  It’s important, we felt that it’s important for the Belizean public to be aware that from our standpoint, we don’t have any shortage of product available for the market.  We produce sufficient to take us into January of next year, but we have observed that there’s been a significant uptick in purchases, particularly for plantation white sugar.  We’ve seen over twenty percent increase in demand for plantation white sugar which we can only deduce is because of the price disparity that exists between the Belizean market and our neighboring market.  We know that, for example, in Mexico sugar, particularly plantation white equivalent which is Estandar Sugar is selling for two and a half times the price that it is sold for in Belize.  We feel that that is perhaps creating that pressure here in our domestic market for our product.  So people are able to buy cheaper here, sell it across the border and make a profit and we believe that might be the cause for the apparent shortage of sugar on the shelf.  Therefore, we felt that it was important that we clarify that from our end we are making the product available, but somewhere in the supply chain there are leakages that are recurring that is then resulting in the sugar going across the border.”