B.S.I. Counteracting Fall in International Sugar Prices  

On Tuesday, Belize Sugar Industries (B.S.I.) proudly announced a record-breaking price for sugar cane, heralding a promising boost for the livelihoods of cane farmers across Belize. This increase in cane prices paints a hopeful picture for the local agricultural community. However, it’s a bittersweet victory, as the global market price for sugar itself has taken a downturn, posing significant challenges for the industry. In an interview, B.S.I.’s Financial Director, Shawn Chavarria, shared insights on how the company is proactively addressing these hurdles to ensure sustained growth and stability.

 

Shawn Chavarria, Financial Director, B.S.I.

“We’ve started to see prices come under pressure. And so we’re not expecting a third consecutive year of record prices, unfortunately. But what we continue to have in a sense as an advantage is that the expansion in value-added production will help to cushion this fall in the world market price for sugar. And so by having that diversified portfolio of being able to sell more value-added sugar, that helps to soften some of the blow when prices see these dramatic fall. Prices for direct consumption sugar will also reduce, but the volatility will not be as much as raw sugar. And so we’re not expecting that prices will fall to the levels we saw in the when the EU deregulation took place in 2017 but it will start feeling some pressure due to the fall in global sugar prices.”

 

Reporter

“Who is buying these dc sugars?”

 

Shawn Chavarria

“It’s actually a wide group of customers. We’re currently selling these direct consumption sugars to over twenty-five close to thirty countries. In the world. And so we’re selling to a majority of the Caribbean countries presently, even the small eastern Caribbean islands. We’re selling to a number of countries in Europe. We’re selling to the UK. They are one of our biggest takers of product. So over the past five, six years, we’ve really been able to  develop and diversify the customer base so that we are able to take advantages and divert sugar to where we’re seeing more attractive prices.”