Excitement at BSI as Record Sugar Shipment Heads to London

It’s an exciting week for the team at Belize Sugar Industries. At Big Creek Port in Stann Creek District, the Federal Tiber vessel is being loaded with over thirty-nine thousand tons of raw sugar. So, where’s it heading? This massive shipment is bound for London, England. The Supply Chain Manager says that if the weather cooperates, the ship is set to sail next week.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

It’s an exciting week for the team at Belize Sugar Industries. At Big Creek Port in Stann Creek District, the Federal Tiber vessel is being loaded with over thirty-nine thousand tons of raw sugar. So, where’s it heading? This massive shipment is bound for London, England. The Supply Chain Manager says that if the weather cooperates, the ship is set to sail next week.

 

Eldy Smith, Supply Chain Manager, ASR/BSI

“Today is a memorable moment for us. It’s one of the largest vessels that has docked in Belize. We’re loading thirty-nine thousand five hundred metric tons. We are expecting that  The finished loading is within six days. We have some delays and this is mainly because of the rain. But our loading rates are normally between five thousand to seven thousand metric tons an hour, right? Right now we are currently meeting the five thousand.  And we are hoping that we can get better with the weekend that we have better sunny skies.”

 

Typically, loading a shipment of this size would take over forty days. BSI’s Communications Director, Williams Neal, explains that if a vessel stays docked longer than the agreed loading and unloading time, a demurrage fee is charged for each extra day. By boosting efficiency, the company saves valuable time and money.

 

William Neal, Communications Director, B.S.I.

“ It’s really not only historic for BSI, but for the country. Because it shows that if we have the right port facilities, we can do much more. And in a world where competitiveness is important when you’re talking about businesses. You have to make sure that you’re able to respond to your needs of your clients as they arrive. So while we’re moving on a regular basis, the raw sugar down here, we have to make sure that we’re able to compete with other larger producers  globally. So the infrastructure here at the port that we 30 million dollars Uh, proves that this was long overdue, and perhaps it’s something that we need to do more in terms of port and infrastructure development.”

 

Over the past two years, BSI has been phasing out the tug and barge system for transporting sugar. The main reasons? High maintenance costs and the difficulty of insuring the barges.

 

William Neal

“It made a lot of dollars and cents to actually move to this facility because the savings  drove that entire process. It’s not easy when you’re a business and you’re doing massive transformation to continue spending money because the impression then is that you have a lot of money. But if you do nothing, you’re going to die. So you have to make the investment. You know, some people say scared money doesn’t make money in business. You have to be bold and you have to be ahead of the curve.”

 

This shipment showcases Belize’s growing capacity for trade. Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, sees it as a positive signal to the international market.

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade

“Whenever we analyze the efficiencies and the effectiveness in terms of the supply chain and to be able to compete in the local, in the global market in this case to supply sugar is very important because the more  we are able to export, that means that more competitive we are in terms of price. And today, when you look at the global inflation. Global inflation which is affecting all consumers in the world being competitive in terms of price is very important.”

 

The total value of the export is forty-five million dollars which Martinez anticipates will directly impact Belize’s economy by reducing the country’s trade deficit.

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez

“But it is also important to note that its contribution has a multiplier effect. And it is our hope that its contribution will not just be a one-time impact, but that it will have an a wider impact. In terms of hope the money is circulating within Belize’s economy.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.