GuySuCo invests $8.9B to improve field operations, upgrade factories

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has expended some 66 per cent of its allocations from Budget 2026 to improve field operations, upgrade factories and improve the quality of its products. This is according to the 2026 Mid-Year Report released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday. “Government spent $8.9 billion of the $13.4 billion budgeted in 2026 for the operations and resuscitation of the sugar estates to improve the yield, expand production, reduce the cost of production and diversify the industry, while creating jobs and contributing to the economies of the communities in surrounding areas,” the report outlined. The report noted that investments thus far saw the conversion of 696 hectares of land at the estates for mechanised harvesting in the review period with another 2,543 hectares of land expected to be converted in the second half of the year.

Further, procurement was advanced for drainage tubes to facilitate the conversion of land at the estates for mechanical harvesting, as well as for purchase of equipment such as mechanical harvesters, four cane haulage trailers and two trucks to improve efficiency of harvesting operations and the transportation of canes to the factories. Additionally, part of the funds was pumped into upgrading factory operations to improve the quality of sugar produced. The upgrade of the sugar processing equipment to stainless steel material at Albion and Blairmont factories is ongoing and the procurement is underway for additional dryers for Rose Hall and Uitvlugt, a conveyor system for billet canes at Albion, and billet cane feeder tables.

Initiatives were also taken to improve the quality of sugarcane such as the propagation of high yielding varieties, importation of improved germplasm materials, revision of the fertiliser policy to increase potassium in fertiliser dosage, and use of multispectral drones to detect nutrient deficiency in cane plants. According to the report, the continued investments in value-added interventions resulted in the production of 2,630 tonnes of packaged Demerara Gold sugar and one tonne of Demerara Gold sugar sticks, in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, in the second half of the year, cane unloader equipment will be installed at Albion Estate to ensure consistent, efficient and clean flow of billet canes from trucks for milling and the construction of a new feeder table will commence. In addition, a reverse rotation knife will be installed to increase juice extraction at Rose Hall Estate, and two turbo filters will be acquired for Albion and Blairmont which will improve the purity of the sugar produced. At the beginning of the year, the Government had reported that the sugar sector employs over 8300 persons.