Shortfall in Sugar Production This Year

Jamaica’s sugar production is expected to fall approximately 2,000 tonnes below projections this season, due to a shortfall in cane production.
Head of Jamaica Cane Product Sales, Karl James, told JIS News that cane yield was expected to rise this year as new cane came into production, but this was not the case. In addition, late starts at some factories and other inefficiencies also impacted milling and production. If all goes well next season, he said, production levels should significantly increase.
So far, 130,648 tonnes of sugar have been produced. Exports to the European Union to date stand at 121,000 tonnes, with an additional 20,000 tonnes expected before the crop season ends in July, Mr. James said. Income from this year’s crop is projected at US$100 million.
During the 2007/8 crop season, it took less cane on average to produce each tonne of sugar. As of Monday June 9, 1,481,355 tonnes of cane had been milled with an average tonne cane/tonne sugar (tc/ts) ratio of 11.4, meaning that each tonne of sugar was produced from 11.4 tonnes of cane.
Jamaica’s crop season runs from December to late July. Production is carried out in seven factories islandwide: Appleton, Monymusk, Worthy Park, Frome, Bernard Lodge, St. Thomas Sugar and Long Pond.