For years now, we've been following these disputes in the sugar industry, and we got the sense from talking to the mill's management today that their majority shareholder, American Sugar Refining, Inc., is becoming increasingly frustrated with the commercial disputes that create an unpredictable investment climate.
So, we asked "Mac" McLachlan about that, and he gave us a candid and revealing answer. Here's what he had to say:
Malcolm "Mac" McLachlan - VP, International Relations, ASR/BSI
"I can't really speak directly on their behalf, but what I'm aware of is that they're very disappointed with the situation we're in at the moment, evidently very disappointed, and feel that from the investments that they've put into the sugar industry here in Belize, since 2012 - you know, we not only gave the industry a lifeline. If you recall, the years before that, BSI was rapidly going downhill. You can look at mill performance, which was reducing all the time. You can look at a number of factors, and I think, with ASR's investment, knowledge and expertise as one of the larger sugar refining companies in the world, I think that our owners came in, and decided, look, we want to make this industry strong, make it viable, and have stuck to that path, and have invested very heavily. We've, over the years, explained what those investments are doing, not lonely to improve the manufacturing of sugar, but also environmental investments. We were pleased to welcome some of you a month or so back to commissioning our water cooling towers. And we're going to see a big change in the emission system in the boilers. All of these are multi-million dollar projects, but we feel they're very important for building a good, strong foundation for the future."
"We are coming at this from a point of view of really ending the kind of difficulties we've had in that relationship over the long term, because I think, for the future of this industry, that's the way we should go. We have had to explain to the government that under these conditions, where we're being put in a position where one side wants to get more from us without really listening to our arguments, that this is a very difficult position to be in. We're simply not prepared, and our owners are not prepared to invest any more money in Belize until we can straighten these things, and that means having a more constructive relationship with farmers, but also to ensure that the regulatory environment here, and the way that's operated, permits us to continue to be conducive toward our investment for the future."
"At this stage, as we've explained in the past, the mill is in the process of some major investments that are gonna improve the future viability of the industry. But, that means that we have considerable long-term debt at this time, and we're simply not in a position to be able to pass on more value to the farmers than what we have at the moment. I'd also want to emphasize that the current terms on which the commercial agreement is based, we believe are very favorable for farmers. I think they're some of the best terms in the region."
Our colleagues from CTV 3 News reached out to the leadership for an interview, but none was forthcoming at this time.
