Last night, we took you to the Cayo District for the exportation of Belizean corn into Guatemala.
Under the stewardship of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the local company, Cayo Grain & Agro. Supply Limited, is about to export several hundred metric tons of yellow corn to the Guatemalan Chapter of the Maseca Company.
Yesterday's trade event gave us an opportunity to get a sneak peek inside the massive compound of the Cayo Grain and Agro Supply company. It's been a subject of interest to Belizeans since 2014 when we started receiving inquiries about what kind of factory it actually is.
Tonight, we attempt to demystify it a little, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Yesterday's shipment of corn into Guatemala, gave us an opportunity to peek behind the curtain at the facilities that belong to the company known as Cayo Grain & Agro Supply Limited. Essentially, its main components - these massive structures - are for milling, drying, and storing grains, like corn, for export purposes.
Gilbert Canton Jr - GM, Cayo Grain & Agro Supply Ltd.
"Corn obviously is grown on our farm. This year, we grew about 6 million pounds of corn, and we also intake corn from other farmers and process it by drying and storing it for them."
Hon. Jose Mai - Minister of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise
"He provides a service for the farmers in the district. They do drying. They do continuous drying, and then they do some storage. If you look at the storage facilities around."
Gilbert Canton Jr
"We do some grinding as well, to send that across the border."
Hon. Jose Mai
"He also provides milling because you will know that when you export grain, whole grain corn into Guatemala, it attracts a 12% EVA. But, when you break down the corn, you grind the corn, you break up the corn, it's no longer corn. It is Gluten, and that attracts only 50% of the EVA. So, the businessmen know that, and so they have to break the corn, and then make it exportable. So, that's what they do here. They provide a service."
The General Manager gave us a brief synopsis of what a workday at Cayo Grain & Agro Supply might look like.
Gilbert Canton Jr
"Corn basically comes in. You see we have a scale down there. So, the white corn is weighed in. It's dumped right over here. It goes into the wet bin. It passes through this drier. It takes about 3 and a half hours to dry, and then, from there, it goes into the storage bins. And then, customers call and say if they want whole corn or ground corn."
Reporter
"And the total capacity?"
Gilbert Canton Jr
"Our total capacity is almost 3 million pounds of corn, both sides: this side and that side. There is a difference in the sides. This side over here is set up more for fast processing and handling. This side over here. Mose of the Maseca corn will go through this side over here, where the corn is cleaned and that sort of stuff."
The company's ability to store such large quantities of grain is already being put to use for the farmers who do business with them.
Hon. Jose Mai - Minister of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise
"This year, we have a bumper crop of corn. We're going to produce about 2.2 million bags of corn. That has never been the case before. So, for that bumper crop, farmers are looking to this type of service."
Gilbert Canton Jr
"So far, we've already taken in about 26 million pounds, about 260 thousand bags of corn. So, it's the most we've ever taken in. It's a bumper crop this year. So, We're very happy with that."
The general manager told the press yesterday that the existence of the Partial Scope Agreement for trade between Belize and Guatemala directly influences the business flow here on this compound.
Gilbert Canton Jr
"Pretty much everything that we process and store here goes into Guatemala under the Partial Scope Agreement that we have with Guatemala."
"Our company exists because of the Partial Scope Agreement. If that wasn't in place, I don't know that we would be here because Belize is gonna produce this year about 2 million bags of corn. About half of that is gonna be used locally, primarily to grow chickens and pigs. The other half goes to Guatemala."
Alvaro Rodriguez - Rep., Diversa
"I'm an entrepreneur here in Belize, so I truly believe that partial scopes, not only with Guatemala but with Mexico, will be beneficial for the products. We, being the smaller country - let's call it like that - it would be excellent for us to be able to compete with economies of scale. So, partial scopes are the key factor that would make a difference on the Belizean products entering other countries."
