White sugar on ration due to low production

When butane prices fell late last month it was good news for the food industry and everyone preparing for the Christmas season. But before you start baking confectionaries and cakes, you need to know of news coming from Belize Sugar Industry in Orange Walk. And that is that the company is rationing white sugar this week. Will that affect the price of sugar or will you be unable to bake those cakes? Those are the questions we asked Belizario Carballo, B.S.I.’s Finance Officer. Carballo said that there is a shortage because of a decrease in sugar production in the last year due to the effects of Hurricane Dean in August of 2007 and Tropical Storm Arthur in June 2008. According to Carballo, the reasons for the decrease in production also had to do with inefficiencies in the delivery system to the sugar mill which results in long cues of trucks waiting to be processed.

B.S.I. produces about one hundred and twenty-three thousand tons of sugar every year. But this year only seventy-eight thousand three hundred and twenty-five tons were produced overall. Carballo said that ninety thousand tons of sugar would have netted eleven million dollars in profits to be shared by farmers and the mill, which is the amount required for B.S.I. to break even. In a good year, B.S.I. produces twelve thousand tons of plantation white and two thousand tons of local brown sugar. Last year B.S.I. only produced ten thousand tons of white sugar. But in respect of the rationing, it affects white plantation sugar, not brown sugar. Carballo said they realized the problems weeks ago which is why they rationed sales to stretch supplies. According to B.S.I., by next week the supply will be back to normal and since the price is controlled, there should not be a difference in prices at your local supermarket.