Georgetown: Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said that the Skeldon sugar factory, which commenced operations two weeks ago after its rehabilitation, is beginning to work as anticipated. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuco) is now looking to surpass the second crop target of 155,000 tonnes.
During an interview at his Regent Road, Bourda Office, the Minister explained that one of the very important indicators for Skeldon is the ‘Tonne of Cane per Tonne of Sugar’ or TCTS system. The TCTS is dependent on many factors, but one of the most important is how well the factory works.
The TCTS that the factory is designed to give is between 10-12 tonnes of cane to one tonne of sugar. The old Skeldon factory used to give a TCTS of 13-15 tonnes of cane to one tonne of sugar.
“When we first operationalised Skeldon it was providing a TCTS above 15 and even as high as 20. This was because the factory had a number of design flaws. The TCTS so far this crop has been averaging about 12-13 and we expect that as the crop gets more advanced, the TCTS will be reduced to under 12. This is what the factory was initially designed to do,” Minister Ramsammy said.
These are encouraging signs that the factory benefitted from the remedial design work that was done in the off-season by Bosch Engineering firm from South Africa, he noted.
One of the challenges encountered that affected not only at Skeldon, but the entire industry, was the rainy conditions experienced during the month of August, which is usually a dry period. There have hardly been any dry days in some of the cultivation areas.
However, on the days that Skeldon operates, there has been good yield. Thus far, it has produced more than 2,500 tonnes of sugar. This production seen in the early part of the second crop equals the production of the first crop.
“We are approximately 95,000 tonnes for the year, which means that we are approaching 50,000 tonnes for this crop. The first crop was 48,000 tonnes…we are optimistic that given the right weather conditions, Skeldon will respond in a positive way,” the Minister said.
With anticipated improved weather conditions in September, normal October and November weather, GuySuco is looking at the possibility of grinding until Christmas to surpass the target of 155,000 tonnes for the second crop.
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