Press Release: BSI Announces New Raw Bulk Sugar Single Export Record (December 21, 2024)

In June of 2022, when Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI) launched the new improved raw sugar and molasses logistic facilities at the Port of Big Creek (PBC), it was the realization of a strategic decision to unclog an industry bottleneck which would significantly improve loading rates and reduce logistics cost.

Today, almost two and a half years since its launch, BSI is proud to announce a new raw bulk sugar single export record. The payload of 39,500 MT raw bulk sugar, valued at close to BZ$49M, is expected to be loaded in approximately 8 days, slowed by the rains (with normal loading rate between 5,000 and 7,000 MT it would have taken 6 days). This same cargo would have taken more than 2 months to load through the previous system of loading in the Belize City harbor.

Mac McLachlan, Belize Country Manager and VP of International Relations, ASR Group says, “This new milestone is proof positive of the benefits of this strategic investment by the company and its transformational impact on the entire industry.” He continued, “The improved loading rate alone boosts our ability to export our products more efficiently and competitively thereby increasing the long-term sustainability of the industry.” He concluded by saying, “Additionally, it directly benefits farmers, who continue to see improved cane price driven by lower ocean freight and port costs.” These savings were confirmed earlier this year by an independent expert.

The decision to move to PBC required a BZ$30.6M capital investment and was driven largely by the dredging of the channel and nearshore at PBC in 2019 to create the country’s only deep water port. This long-term investment ensures that BSI can continue to export raw sugar and molasses competitively and the benefits shared with cane growers.

-----ENDS---

For further information, please contact:

William A. Neal

Email: william.neal@asr-group.com

Cell: 610-9774

###

Press Release: BSI Announces a New Final Cane Payment Record (October 29, 2024)

For the second consecutive year, cane farmers in northern Belize will receive a record final payment for their sugarcane of BZ$90.95 per ton of cane for the 2024 crop. This payment will be made on Monday, 4 November 2024 and the record price can be attributed to several factors including the financial benefits of strategic and transformational investments by Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) combined with continued new market exploration - particularly in CARICOM - and improved global market prices for sugar.

This final cane price is based on the 2024 crop production figures of 1,027,462 long tons of cane delivered to the mill from which 102,718 long tons of sugar, and 39,958 long tons of molasses was produced. Sugar sales include raw sugar destined for the EU and US markets and Direct Consumption Sugars (DCS) for the EU, Belize domestic, CARICOM and other markets.

Shawn Chavarria, BSI Finance Director, says “While this record final payment could have been higher if cane quality was better and crop disruptions were avoided, this record payment comes at an opportune time given the new challenges posed by crop disease. We hope that farmers will take advantage of the record payment and implement preventative measures for tackling disease and pests. In addition, this new record payment demonstrates the highly beneficial terms of the current Commercial Agreement that farmers enjoy for the purchase of their sugar cane. We remain optimistic that farmers will be motivated to invest more in their cane land to increase both productivity and cane quality.”

Last week, BSI launched its SmartGrow project that leverages Blockchain technology to benefit the entire northern industry. Farmers are encouraged to take advantage of projects like SmartGrow, AgGrowPro, mechanical harvesting and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) BZ$50m grant being implemented through the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC). Collectively, these initiatives are a lifeline for increased cane productivity and farm transformation, during the medium and long term.

-----ENDS---

For further information, please contact:

William A. Neal

Email: william.neal@asr-group.com

Cell: 610-9774

###

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞: 𝐁𝐒𝐈 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 (𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒)

PRESS RELEASE: BSI – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY OF BELIZE

March 06, 2024

Belize Sugar Industries Ltd (BSI) is grateful to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) for providing a platform to secure US$25,000,000 of support for climate resilience in the northern sugar cane industry from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) - https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/sap035. This is another important development in BSI’s continued strategy to build a better future for the sugar industry in the north.

Following the worst drought in sixty years in 2019, which saw the loss of 42% of the cane crop, BSI identified the need for a strategy to help protect the industry from future climate shocks.

For many years, BSI has been developing new sugar cane varieties through its research and development program that are better suited to manage more volatile climate events. Through its partnership with the West Indies Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station (WICBS), a leading cane breeding facility co-funded by BSI, eleven new promising varieties have been developed. Broadening varietal distribution helps to mitigate climate shocks that may impact mainstream cane varieties. BSI evaluates more than 40,000 new varieties annually - looking for improvements and resilience.

Recognizing the need to propagate these varieties and to transform farming practices in the north to improve productivity and resilience, in 2020 BSI, secured US$300,000 of support from IDB Invest to create a transformation strategy, which has at its heart modernization of farming practices and building varietal resilience.

BSI partnered with CCCCC in 2020 to design the project to build climate resilience in the industry; the Government of Belize (GoB) provided a letter of no objection, allowing CCCCC to develop this project in collaboration with key industry stakeholders. BSI is grateful that this project was approved yesterday at the 38th meeting of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The project will subsidize the cost of change for farmers who join the program, through replanting and soil and water management programs to improve their viability.

The project seeks to assist more than 5,000 small cane farmers to become more viable and resilient to climate shocks. The other elements are a new and innovative agro-credit scheme funded by BSI and launched by the Prime Minister in November 2023 called AgGrowPro. This BSI-funded program worth BZ$6,000,000 annually envisages service delivery and will act as a catalyst for the CCCCC’s project by providing farmers instant access to farming credit for service provision at exactly the time they need it.

The third element is an innovative blockchain solution (co-funded by Compete Caribbean) to reduce risk to lenders for payment for farming services, such as replanting and husbandry, by making the transactions more transparent, and utilizing GIS technology to track results and repayment of services through farmers’ cane delivery. Farmers can track progress through their cell phones.

BSI believes the northern cane farm must be modernized to be viable in the face of a changing climate. Cane productivity at an average of 16 tons of cane per acre is among the lowest in the world, and less than half that in neighboring Guatemala. No sugar cane farm can be viable at that level.

Modernizing means a move to more efficient practices, regular replanting of cane with diverse varieties, sustainable husbandry, greater farming scale through block farming and cooperative structures, and easier access to agro-credit and farming services. In this year alone, BSI has invested BZ$3,000,000 for new equipment to provide agro-credit through AgGrowPro – a smart farm service warmly welcomed by cane farmers.

BSI looks forward to working closely with farmers and stakeholders for a brighter future in the industry. The success of securing the Green Climate Fund (GCF) grant through the CCCCC is an important milestone toward this outcome. BSI is proud to be actively contributing to help build a better future for all stakeholders in the northern cane industry. When the project is officially launched, BSI encourages farmers to take advantage of this grant funding to improve sustainability of their farms.

---ENDS---

For further information, please contact:

William A. Neal

Email: william.neal@asr-group.com

Cell: 610-9774

###

BSI Announces Near Record Cane Price and Successful Outcome to Request for Injunction

Improved global market prices coupled with strategic, transformational, industry investments by Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI) resulted in another year of a very good cane price for farmers.  The 2022/23 cane crop second payment, made today July 19, 2023, is now based on a cane price estimate of BZ$70.22, making it the second highest price since 2000 and the highest since the deregulation of the EU sugar market.  Based on a first cane payment of BZ$43.63, the second payment will be an average of BZ$20.10.  When compared with the previous year’s average of BZ$16.91, this is an increase of BZ$3.19 per ton of cane.  Under the current commercial agreement between BSI and the farmers, farmers directly benefit from increased market prices, production of value-added sugars, and logistics savings, all of which contributed to the improved cane price.  Although cane supply was lower this crop by 164,000 metric tons, the higher second payment will result in $17.8 million being circulated into the northern economy which is higher than last year.  

Whilst we have seen very good cane prices for the past two crops, the sugar industry in the north continues to face uncertainty.  The new export regulation entitled “Sugar Industry (License to Import/Export) Regulations, 2023,” introduced to control the import and export of sugar and force BSI to pay Fairtrade premiums directly to associations, is unworkable and violates BSI’s rights under the Belize constitution.  BSI, therefore, lodged a challenge against the offending sections.  An emergency injunction hearing was scheduled to take place on 21 July 2023, but following requests from the government’s legal team, BSI agreed to a consent order to maintain the status quo until the substantive case is concluded, most likely in the new year.  This means that the areas of the regulation being contested will not apply to BSI unless and until a Judge decides they are lawful.

While the company is pleased that in the short-term its business and the potential negative impact on the economy of this ill-conceived regulation are avoided, it sincerely hopes that all stakeholders use this opportunity to reassess the obstacles that have led to a serious regression in the industry during the past two years and seek common ground on which to work together to build a better and more sustainable business.

 ----ENDS----

For further information, please contact:

William A. Neal

Email: william.neal@asr-group.com

Cell: 610-9774

Completion Ceremony for Cohort 1 - BSI Women Farmer Field School Program

Milestones for the Month of March are even sweeter when they celebrate women. Cohort 1 of the BSI Women Farmer Field School Program—coordinated by the company’s Cane Farmer Relations Department (CFRD) in collaboration with the Hershey Company, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the Green Climate Fund—were celebrated in a special ceremony. Friends, industry stakeholders and leaders, and family members applauded as 11 women cane farmers, from the different cane farmer associations, received their certificate of completion after one year, eight modules, a test and lots of interactive learning in the cane fields. The program featured a main address by H.E. Rossana Briceño, Special Envoy for the Development of Families and Children, a testimony by graduate Filiberta Pena, on behalf of her classmates and remarks by Olivia Avilez, Cane Farmer Relations Manager.

Completion of Upgrading Air Emissions System at BELCOGEN

Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI), as a responsible corporate citizen and member of the community, is committed to environmental protection. As a result, BSI, during the 2022 off-crop, implemented phase 2 of the air emission project to replace the second boiler at the power generation plant BELCOGEN. With the two stages of the project now completed, at a cost of BZ$12.7 million, BELCOGEN now has cleaner emissions, a visibly cleaner smokestack with the added benefit of more reliable mill operations.

The new emission control system utilizes a combination of a dust collector and a wet scrubber process while the previous method employed an “Electrostatic System Precipitator” (ESP), a dry ash remover system. With the new system, the air heater hopper and mechanical dust collector will capture big particles in the beginning and the spray nozzle in the wet scrubber will capture the small ones in the last stage.

Through environmental projects like these, BSI underscores its commitment to responsible environmental practices and continues to play an active role in protecting the nation’s environment. This commitment is further demonstrated through our sound environmental management program, and fulfillment of our Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) requirements with the Department of the Environment and our Corporate Social Responsibility Programs.

Price of Local Sugar Remains Unchanged Until 1 January 2016

14 December 2015

It has come to our attention that certain retailers have increased the price of plantation white sugar to 75 cents a lb. BSI wishes to confirm that the price of plantation white sugar being sold at its Tower Hill Warehouse remains unchanged and will not be increased until 1 January 2016, in line with the Statutory Instrument dated 4 December 2015.

Joint Press Release - BSI and IDB

As part of the country’s ongoing dialogue with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on ways to transform Belize’s sugar industry into a sustainable and economically viable one, a delegation comprised of 14 Counsellors of the Board of Executive Directors representing the 48 member countries of the IDB visited the Orange Walk District today. Aptly dubbed “Sugar City”, Orange Walk Town was the setting this afternoon for Sugar Industry stakeholders to host the delegation at an event in which special emphasis was made of the need to deploy sustainable practices to help grow the industry while protecting the environment, along with the health and safety of the industry’s workers.

Led by Elvira Méndez, Belize’s representative on the Board, the distinguished group benefitted from industry presentations, toured the Tower Hill sugar mill and power plant and met with sugar industry officials, representatives of cane farmers associations, local dignitaries and the media.

Over the past two and a half years, the IDB, the ASR Group-Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI) and industry institutions and associations have maintained close and continuous communication with regard to the needs of the sugar industry as it confronts the challenges of less than favorable market conditions and higher production costs. This visit, therefore, underlines the support which the IDB has provided to the industry in Belize, most recently in the form of a grant contribution of over US$1.3M for the implementation of a technical cooperation project designed to establish a dedicated extension service program for the benefit of the 5,400 sugar cane farmers in northern Belize. This support, received through the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the IDB Group, will help farmers to better prepare for the future by providing technical assistance to help improve sugar cane productivity and to increase efficiencies thereby reducing costs along the value chain of sugar cultivation and production. According to Yolanda Strachan of the Multilateral Investment Fund, “The MIF has since 2000, developed targeted interventions to support sustainable agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. To increase the impact on livelihoods and living conditions of the beneficiaries, the design of this capacity-building project included the active involvement of key supply chain stakeholders: farmers, lead firm, and finance providers.” This project is being implemented by the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute (SIRDI).

The visit also entailed a review of ASR Group-BSI’s latest investments in the Tower Hill sugar mill as well as the Belcogen co-generation power plant which commenced operations for the Sugar Cane Crop 2015-16 two days prior to the visit. Notably, the IDB was one of the original co-funders of Belcogen in 2009, which provided the foundation for the sugar industry to expand to its current level of production and processing. Belcogen now supplies approximately 15 percent of the nation’s electricity needs from renewable sources, with that percentage forecast to grow as sugar production output increases through the industry’s collaborative efforts aimed at improving farm productivity and efficiency.

This visit to Orange Walk was part of a three-day tour of Belize by the Counsellors of the IDB’s Executive Board in order to have first-hand awareness and familiarity of the projects supported by the Bank in Belize. Other projects to be visited include: the Solid Waste Management Program, the Sustainable Tourism Program and the Community Action for Public Safety project.

Press Release: IDB support for the creation of a sustainable sugar Industry in northern Belize

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is pleased to announce that it has approved a US$1.3M grant from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) to finance a project that will support the development of a sustainable sugar industry in northern Belize. This three-year project will provide resources to create and implement a dedicated extension service for over 5,400 sugar cane farmers in northern Belize and to build a sustainable farming model that strengthens the capabilities of these farmers. The project will also support the integration of agricultural technology and the implementation of a centralized geographic information system which will enhance coordination and assist the industry’s ability to strategically plan for the future.

This project will be implemented by the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute (SIRDI) and will complement previous and ongoing support for Belize’s sugar industry provided by the European Union, the Belize Sugar Industries Limited, La Inmaculada Credit Union Limited, the United Nations Development Program, and the sugar cane farmers’ associations. The project also supports the Strategic Development Plan which is currently being developed by industry stakeholders and the Government of Belize as a comprehensive and cohesive roadmap to the long-term sustainability of this vital economic sector.

“Since 2000, the MIF has developed targeted interventions to support sustainable agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). To increase the impact on livelihoods and living conditions of the beneficiaries, the design of this capacity-building project included the active involvement of key supply chain stakeholders: farmers, leading firm, and finance providers.”
-Yolanda Strachan, Multilateral Investment Fund

SIRDI’s technical staff, composed of six field officers, will be complemented by 12 additional technicians who will work with 270 harvest group leaders and with the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA), the Progressive Sugar Cane Producers Association (PSCPA), and the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association (CSCPA) to strengthen their organizational, managerial, and operational capacity. Farmers and harvest group leaders will benefit from training aimed at increasing productivity and adapting best practices in sugar cane cultivation, data collection, and entrepreneurship.
“A ‘training of the trainers’ approach will be employed in order to promote knowledge transfer and to ensure that a high quality extension service continues to be delivered beyond the lifetime of the project.”
- Marcos Osorio, Executive Director, SIRDI

Significantly, this project will support the operationalization of the Sugar Industry Management Information System (SIMIS) within SIRDI, which will act as a centralized database for the 75,000+ acres of sugar cane presently under cultivation in order to improve the quality of data for monitoring, analysis, and informed decision-making by industry stakeholders. Once fully implemented, this system will be a critical tool for a viable and sustainable sugar industry.

“ This IDB support could not have come at a better time. The industry faces important market challenges. Assisting farmers to improve their yields will help them to reduce their cost and contribute to a more efficient and competitive industry.”
- Mac MacLachlan, Vice President, International Relations, ASR Group

About the Multilateral Investment Fund

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is funded by 39 countries and supports private sector-led development benefiting low-income populations and the poor—their businesses, their farms, and their households. The aim is to give them tools to boost their incomes: access to markets and the skills to compete in those markets, access to finance, and access to basic services, including green technology. A core MIF mission is to act as a development laboratory—experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks to build and support successful micro, small, and medium business models. More information can be found at www.fomin.org .

About the Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank is devoted to improving lives. Established in 1959, the IDB is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region.

For more information:

Marcos Osorio
(501) 677 4734
marcos.sirdi@gmail.com

Jacqueline Dragone
(501) 221 5324
jdragone@iadb.org

Download a copy of the official press release here: IDB MIF Sugar Project Press Release