Jamaica buys sugar from Guyana to stave off shortage

The Jamaican Government has placed an order for sugar from Guyana to avert shortages in that CARICOM country.
Quoting the Agriculture Ministry, the Jamaican Observer yesterday said that it has put in place measures to avert a shortage of sugar on the local market and has urged distributors not to hoard the product.
In a statement Wednesday, the Ministry assured the distributive trade that “adequate arrangements have been made to supply the market until local production comes on stream”.
“We, therefore, seek the cooperation and assistance of all, and urge persons not to hoard supplies at this time,” said Agriculture Minister Robert Montague.
According to Montague, the current shortfall in sugar production resulted from “under-performance of the sugar factories and sustained rainfall”.
Montague sought to assure that arrangements for the importation of sugar were adequate to satisfy the domestic trade requirement over coming months.
Monthly consumption averages 5,000 tonnes, the Ministry said.
“Sufficient supplies were received in July and adequate supplies are in place for August. Manifestly, a shipment was received on Tuesday and another on Wednesday night. One shipment each is expected for the next two weeks,” said Montague.
He added that Government has placed an order with Guyana, to provide Jamaica with sufficient supplies up to November this year.
“We are aware of the increased prices of sugar on the world market and have implemented measures to increase cane production by an additionally 30 per cent for the upcoming crop,” said Montague.