James
Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
THE SUGAR Company of Jamaica (SCJ) was slapped with a $1.5 million penalty by its trading partners in the United States last month because of the "poor quality" sugar exported to that country.
A shipment of 2,500 tonnes of sugar made to the U.S. in late December was found to have too much dextran, an organism developed in stale cane or formed by the fermentation of sugars.
Although not harmful to human beings, a dextran count of over 250 units receives a penalty for the producer based on the Sugar Marketing Supplies Protocol. The protocol was developed out of the mutual interests of the refiners seeking reliable and predictable supplies of sugar.
"What happens is that the sugar that we are supposed to have supplied under the U.S. quota agreement has to meet different criteria, and one of them is the level of dextran," said Karl James, general manager of the Sugar Cane Product Sales, the marketing arm of the sugar industry. "When you are having the high level of illicit burning that we've had, you are going to have that kind of thing. You can't process the cane as quickly as you would have loved after it has been burnt illegally, therefore you end up with higher than expected dextran."
ILLEGAL BURNING
Mr. James said it was imperative that persons stop illegal burning of cane in the Frome area, so the crop can be reaped in an orderly fashion.
According to him, a decent time from 'kill to mill' that is, from the time the cane is burnt to the time it is brought to the factory for milling must be 24 to 36 hours.
Any delay in the 'kill to mill' time will allow the bacteria to proliferate and the dextran levels will soar as a result.
"When you have people burning 11,000 tonnes of cane and Frome can only crush 6,000 a day it throws off the schedule and cause these kinds of problems," Mr. James said.
Dextran can also cause severe economic losses. Not only is sugar lost due to dextran formation but there are also processing problems at the factory.
"Dextran retards the refining process. It costs the guys more time to refine the sugar," Mr. James said.
Dextran has been identified as a problem of sugar processing for several decades. It enters the cane at sites of exposed tissue caused by machine harvesting, cutting, burning or freezing and via disease and pests. Wet muddy cane is most at risk.
But according to Gordon Alert, consultant to the president of the SCJ, if the illegal burning of canes continues, the equivalent sugar quota (of 129,000 tonnes) to the U.S. will accrue penalty of $7.2 million (US$120,000).
Dr. Andre Gordon, president of the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA), said he was surprised that a company like the SCJ that practises such high standards and has been in the business for such a long time would ship such a large quantity to incur that large fine.
TRADE
"The matter of trade is becoming more complex. As long as we in Jamaica cannot match the technical capabilities with who we trade, we are always going to be in this position," he warned. "Dextran is a natural component in sugar. It is always present. It's a very contentious thing and there are few people who can judge dextran content very well."
In its effort to prevent illicit fires, the SCJ has launched a public education campaign in areas where estates are located.
