Sugar production cost is double world market price –GuySuCo Finance Director

The Guyana Sugar Corporation’s current cost of production for sugar is more than double the world market price.

GuySuCo’s Finance Director Paul Bhim made the disclosure on Thursday before the Economic Services Committee of Parliament.

The disclosure will raise further concerns about the viability of the heavily-indebted industry.

Even with the preferential rates still on offer by the European Union, GuySuCo’s production costs are far more than its earning potential. The state-owned company, which was summoned before the committee, revealed that currently GuySuCo produces sugar at an average cost of US$0.35 per pound while world market prices have averaged US$0.16 per pound. For the last 15 years, the government has been saying that the intention was to bring the cost of sugar down to around 17 to 19 US cents per pound. Thursday’s revelation would underscore that no progress