Earlier you saw us speaking with William Neal as a representative of ASR/BSI. Today we asked him a few questions about the sugar cane season in the north ended last week Sunday. And while it wasn't a very good crop season, it certainly is, if nothing else, a wakeup call for farmers and producers a like to tighten up especially now with the new changes to the European market. William Neal spoke to us briefly about this matter today.
William Neal - Comm./Gov. Affairs. ASR/BSI
"In terms of a figures we do have...I am not a figures person. This has not been a bumper year when compared to last year in terms of production and we know definitely in terms of prices on the world market, last year it was 70 dollars plus. This year it's only 40 something dollars plus. We still don't have a final figure as yet, but compared to where it was last year we've seen a sizable decrease and it just begs for efficiencies to be increased in terms of a sustainability for the industry itself and particularly not only for the mill, but also for the farmers as well. So, it's a great opportunity for us as we prepare for 2017 and the changes within the EU regime to actually go back and look at the industry collectively and see how interconnected we are and what would be the best steps to look at, for example, harvesting and delivering, that's still a very antiquated system. Whether we move to mechanized farming or harvesting and whether we can do a better job of bringing the cane to the mill and make it more efficient."
The biggest concern in the sugar industry right now is the lifting of export restrictions on European sugar groups, who will now be able to produce and export as much as they want, inevitably flooding the market and driving the price of sugar down. These restrictions will be lifted in the upcoming year.
Email
Print