Sugarcane industry thriving amid pandemic

DIARIO EL MUNDO reports:

Sugar industry achieves record harvest: 17.9 million QQ

 

The sugar harvest for the 2019-2020 cycle closed with a new record: 827,066.13 metric tons (1,823,368,699.963 pounds). According to data from the Superior Council of the Sugar Agroindustry (CONSAA), the cycle ended with unprecedented results for ground cane and sugar production.

Julio Castro, executive director of the entity, stressed that agricultural products were 88.81 metric tons per hectare (10,000 square meters), the second best results obtained in the last 10 years.

CONSAA’s preliminary figures, as of April 29, reflect that this year the six mills operating in the country (Izalco, El Ángel, La Cabaña, Chaparrastique, Injiboa and La Magdalena) harvested 113,669 “manzanas” of land (aprox. 734,318,972 square meters). The entire production (raw and white sugar) reached 17.9 million quintals (3,946,274.5 millions of pounds). 800,000 quintals more than in the 2018-2019 harvest.

He added that production got to this point thanks to an improvement in productivity, which was achieved despite the fact that the sector operated in recent months within the exceptions of the state of sanitary emergency that the country has been experiencing since April.

The executive decrees that enable quarantines cataloged the sugar agribusiness as one of the essential sectors, which allowed the last weeks of the harvest to develop and end normally, without any significant delay.

Castro assured that the commercialization and distribution tasks are carried out normally and complying with the operating protocols in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic.

 

Exports with a good rhythm

Exports, meanwhile, continue at a good pace. Even when there was a drop in the international price of the sweetener, it has been possible to operate with values ​​similar to those of the previous cycle.

In early 2020, before the pandemic spread beyond China, the market for Contract No. 11 – where sugar is traded – had reached 15 cents per pound (of raw sugar). Today it remains close to 10 cents.

“The prices of raw sugar, not suitable for human consumption, are currently around $10.46 (per quintal). At the moment, world markets are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, generating a lot of volatility”, explained Castro.

In this cycle, the main destination for sugar production is China, a market that already represents 47% of total shipments and that translates into $68.3 million in foreign currency, followed by exports to the United States that reach 15% with a value of $18.5 million.

The rest is sent to markets such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Italy, which accumulate sales of more than $38 million. Castro explained that sugar exports have been carried out normally, since none of the decrees has established the suspension in the trade of said product.

At least 70,000 tons were shipped at the beginning of the quarantine.

Another achievement of the sector is that for this harvest the US government granted two increases in El Salvador’s quota for the preferential market, having a total increase of 13,392 metric tons.

The additional quota assigned to El Salvador is the second highest in the Central American region.

According to the Ministry of Economy (Minec), the tariff quotas allow countries to export specific quantities of a product to the United States at a relatively low tariff.

 

 

 

Sector adapts its processes

According to CONSAA, the sector has developed operating protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Castro explained that this contains the general norms and basic principles that each company implements and adapts according to its own organization. “To date, the operating protocols have been strictly followed and encompasses sugarcane producers, agricultural workers, sugar mills, suppliers and clients in the sector; and it will continue in force for as long as necessary to protect the health of workers and employees and ensure the production and supply of sugar for the benefit of all Salvadorans”, said the executive.

 

Opportunities for the sector

Thailand will decrease production in the next harvest, and India forecasts better production in the next harvest, but exports are expected to decrease and inventories will increase.

Mexico also foresees less production and the Northern Triangle in deficit. Brazil estimates with around 10 million metric tons of sugar (largest producer worldwide).

 

Varieties, better results

In addition to technification in plantations, part of the improvement is based on the use of varieties more adapted to local climatic conditions.

The most widely used variety in the country is CP 72-2086, but CP-881508 are also being used; CP-841198; and CP-731547.

In the coastal zone, Mexican varieties such as MEX 69-1487 are being used. In addition, a Guatemalan production known as CG 9846 is being introduced.

 

Although the salvadoran sugarcane industry was declared an essential sector during the pandemic, the communities surrounded by sugarcane fields are not equally protected: burnings continue, they are still affected by agrotoxics and endure the industry’s abuse of underground water.

Something is definitely not right.

Learn more here: https://voiceselsalvador.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/large-scale-sugarcane-production-in-el-salvador.pdf