.Is Sugar Scarce?

Is sugar scarce?

There is a reported shortage of locally produced sugar. The Belize Sugar Industries is producing twelve thousand tons for local consumption, that’s one thousand tons more than it did last crop.  The shortage is not caused because the nation’s appetite for sugar has increased; it’s because the primary concession holders are not supplying the local retailers and are smuggling it across the Guatemala and Mexico borders where sugar fetches up to four times the value. The local prices range from forty seven dollars per a hundred pound bag at the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation and up to fifty-four dollars from other suppliers. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The current sugar crop season, since it began on December fifteenth last year, has been plagued with numerous setbacks.  Undoubtedly, the industry has been facing serious financial difficulties.  The issues range from a much needed bailout last December to the shutting down of the factory at Tower Hill in the wake of mechanical failures in mid-February.  Despite the resumption of operations recently there is still another problem looming.  Over the past two weeks there has been a dearth in sugar being made available to the local market.  For Stephen Okeke, proprietor of Joy Ice Cream & Juices, the scarcity has meant a complete halt in business.