Sugar shipment off to Italy 4 weeks early

BY ALESIA EDWARDS Observer staff reporter edwardsa@jamaicaobserver.com

Monday, February 15, 2010

OCHO RIOS, St Ann -- The Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Friday shipped the first of four shipments of sugar, produced primarily by state-run factories, as part of an agreement with Italian company, Eridania Suisse S A.

The shipment of approximately 19,800 metric tonnes sailed four weeks ahead of schedule from the Reynolds Pier here, from which three similar shipments are expected in March, April and July.

Under the contractual agreement with Eridania, the Government is committed to ship 79,000 tonnes of raw sugar to the Italian company, which has paid US$15 million as part-payment for sugar from Jamaica.

"We have an agreement where they gave us US$15-m as advanced partial payment in exchange for 79,000 tonnes of sugar, this represents the first of four shipments," Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told the Observer at dockside.

The SCJ is also expected to send two shipments of the product totalling approximately 12,000 tonnes to the United States, Tufton said, adding that about 50,000 tonnes of sugar would remain in Jamaica for local consumption.

"I am satisfied. The sugar looks good. We are on course to meeting the rest of the quantities that we are obligated to supply, we also have here in storage another 4,000 tonnes," Dr Tufton said. "We still have some challenges but we are making the progress that we hope to have made in order to meet the obligations that we have."

Meanwhile, general manager of the Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings, John Gayle, said he believed the sugar was the best the factories had produced in recent years.

"This cargo is actually being shipped four weeks before the original scheduled shipping date," Gayle told the Observer, adding that the raw sugar was being shipped to a refinery in Europe.

"The Government-owned factories, namely Frome and Monymusk, have produced 19,337 tonnes of sugar or 97 per cent of the total cargo," Gayle said.

He explained that under the contractual terms between the two parties, the Government is guaranteed a minimum price of Euro335.20 per tonne of raw sugar.

For his part, head of the sugar divestment team, Aubyn Hill, said negotiations were ongoing with overseas companies for an agreement to be reached, similar to the one it entered into with Eridania, for about US$30-m to produce more sugar.

"While we are looking at this crop, we are in the process of negotiating almost double the amount of money to make a larger amount of sugar from the government estates, while we still work on the divestment," said Hill who was recently taken to task for charging a high consultancy fee to divest the sugar companies.

POST A COMMENT

You must first register and then login to be able to post a comment.

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper – email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.

5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.

6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.

7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, and before commenting you need to register, conveniently, by clicking the link above.

COMMENTS (4)

San Patrek
2/16/2010

Well done Mr Tufton, just shows that there is still capacity within the sugar industry to remain a viable commercial entity. I would like to know whether the Minister see the need for a 'database of available farmlands' that can be accessed by agricultural graduates who would like to enter farming. I would like to lease some agricultural land to put into cultivation but have no idea where to begin looking. It would be helpful if the Ministry of Agriculture established a database of available farmlands (public and private owned) that can be leased by graduates leaving CASE.

kim lowe
2/16/2010

I am proud to be a Jamaican. Good work Mr Tufton!

Errol Townsend
2/15/2010

I like good news, We need to have more stories like this. The focus on agriculture cannot be slow and must the number one goal of government to get us out of this mess. more must be done to get young people in agriculture.

donny schwartz
2/15/2010

great start. I hope you guys can keep up the shipments. I think Tufton is making all previous agriculture ministers (at least since 1989) and his cabinet colleagues look bad by doing so well. Good job Chris!

Did you watch American football's Super Bowl on Sunday?
	Yes, but just for the advertisements
	Yes, just for the game itself
	Yes, for both the game and advertisements
	No, I did not watch the Super Bowl.

View Results
Results published weekly in Sunday Finance

Username:
Password: