CHAIRMAN of J Wray & Nephew Limited Clement “Jimmy” Lawrence is seeking to allay fears that the company has decided to walk away from production at the Appleton Sugar Estate factory in Siloah, St Elizabeth.

Lawrence yesterday told the Jamaica Observer that reports claiming that the company is moving out of sugar are premature as no decision has yet been made.

“The Appleton factory closed as usual at the end of the [2020] crop as part of the normal routine as to how our work flow is,” Lawrence told the Observer in an exclusive interview.

“The sugar operation for us continues to be a challenge. The production numbers this year were dismal and we plan to do a review in light of this. We are undertaking such a review and we are in the process of consultation with our team members. What we really want to do is to find a way forward, and if we can agree on how we move forward.

“In the interim though, it is business as usual, and you know the impact we have on the community [of Siloah]. We are a part of that community and we are continuing that partnership that we have had, and have built over many, many years,” added Lawrence.

He underscored that the company has lost millions of dollars through its sugar operations each year and noted that it was made worse this year by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Lawrence admitted that the losses on sugar have become unsustainable, given the company’s tightening fiscal situation and the fact that the pandemic resulted in the closure of bars and other routes to market, and in so doing, crippled its domestic and export earnings.

“…We have sought to find solutions to all the challenges [at Appleton Estate] that we have had. The negative impact that the coronavirus has had on the commercial operations there increased the sustained losses on the sugar operation; this has forced us to get into deeper consultations on the future of the sugar factory,” said Lawrence.

The J Wray & Nephew head shied away from giving a timeline on when a decision would be made on changes as he argued that this would depend on the outcome of the talks.

“This is a process, so we have to follow the guidelines as it leads, depending on the inputs and the considerations. It is a push and pull so I would not be able to give you a timeline as we speak. What I can say is that we are treating this with the greatest of urgency, given the impact that it has had, and we are striving to get to a position on it that we can communicate in time,” said Lawrence.

With reports that hundreds of people could be hurt by a closure of the sugar operations Lawrence noted that any claim of the number of employees to be impacted would be premature because this would depend on the outcome of the consultations.

He also scoffed at claims that the closure of the factory would impact on the supply of the world renowned Appleton rums.

“As it regards our operations in terms of our distillery, this is not affected in anyway and all the brands, in terms of their availability, will continue without any disruptions. What we are speaking to here is our factory, farm operation that has had a tremendous hit currently and has been so ongoing. So the brands are not affected and are not considered as part of the adjustments and discussions that we are having at this point in time with our stakeholders,” declared Lawrence.