GUATEMALA: Exports surge as sugar heads to Mexico
Published: 03/09/2010, 8:21:57 AM
Guatemalan sugar exports from the current 2009/10 cane harvest to Mexico to date have surged to close to 200,000 metric tonnes, according to Dow Jones.
This compares to last year where Guatemala didn't export one single ton of sugar to Mexico from the 2008/09 harvest, the official told Dow Jones Newswires.
The surge in Guatemalan sugar shipments to Mexico comes as Mexico's 2009/10 harvest has fallen behind the year-ago pace by more than 15%, widening the local supply shortage created by Mexico's harvest last year that also ended sharply below expectations.
"We have shipped a lot to Mexico this year, both by land and by ship, the demand has been great," the ASAZGUA official said. The sugar crop year runs from Nov. 1 to Oct. 31 the following year in both countries.
In Guatemala, however, the demand from Mexico has led to a heated debate as many industry players say much larger quantities are being shipped illegally to Mexico by smugglers taking advantage of poor border control, local newspapers reported Monday.
This has been reported to be behind a sharp rise in domestic Guatemalan sugar prices, they said.
Guatemalan sugar producers will buy back around 23,000 tonnes of sugar they had sold to exporters because of worries about supply shortages, the head of national sugar association ASAZGUA told Reuters on Monday.
"Due to the shortage, each refinery is going to buy back an amount of sugar to make up what we estimate to be lacking," ASAZGUA President Armando Boesche said.