Belize Sugar Industry Faces Over $50 Million Loss This Season

Belize’s sugar industry is facing a revenue shortfall of over fifty million dollars this season. The grim news for the industry was delivered by Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai at a press conference yesterday. As we previously reported, the industry has been ravaged by Fusarium disease, which severely impacts crop yields. While farmers delivered roughly a million tons last year, yields are so bad this year, farmers might not see nine hundred thousand. To make matters worse, the price per ton of sugar cane on the world market dropped considerably when compared to last year. Mai says that the Ministry has been tracking the cane yields being delivered to the factory, and while it was known this season would be bad, the outcome is even worse than initial projections. 

Mai says if the situation continues without serious intervention, yields next year might be as low as six hundred thousand tons.