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The Corozal Sugar Factory began operating in 1937 in Pembroke Hall, Belize (present day Libertad). [1] Today the factory is abandoned, but delayed plans to repair it and add a new distillery for ethanol production have been underway since 2007. [2]
Sugar production in Belize grew in the mid-1800s as Yucatán immigrants fled the Caste War and began cultivating sugarcane in British Honduras. British interest in exporting sugar led to the development of large plantations in the Corozal and Orange Walk regions. Sugar production peaked in the 1880s with 2.5 million pounds being exported, then decreasing to 200,000 pounds by the 1890s. [3] With declining colonial sugar exports worrying the British government, the Corozal Sugar Factory was built in Pembroke Hall by Henry Melhado & Sons [4] and marked the beginning of the country's modern sugar industry in 1937. [5] However, factory output was stunted and it took 16 years to hit the goal of exporting 2,500 tons of sugar. The following year in 1954, the factory was fully operational and 7,357 tons of sugar were exported; a little over half the output of the 122 small producers in nearby villages. 25% of these small producers worked in San Narciso, 5 miles west of the Corozal Sugar Factory. [3]
In 1967, British corporation Tate & Lyle purchased the factory, expanded it, and opened a second factory in Tower Hill near Orange Walk. With these investments, sugarcane became a booming industry for Belize and the standard of living in the Corozal and Orange Walk region improved. [3]
A 1975 Tate & Lyle 'Annual Visit' document reveals some of the challenges the plant faced in maintaining high production at the peak of world sugar prices in the 1970s:
A substantial increase in world sugar prices in the 1970s was followed by a slump in the 1980s. These unstable sugar prices can be attributed to several factors: [6]
Depressed sugar prices led Tate & Lyle to close the Corozal Sugar Factory in 1985 and divest 90% of its interest in the Tower Hill factory to employees. [7] [8]
In 1989, the factory was leased to Jamaican petroleum company, Petrojam, and reopened for the production of molasses. The molasses was then exported to Jamaica where it was refined into ethanol. Through the Caribbean Basin Initiative, this ethanol was sold to the United States duty-free. [3]
The factory was closed again in 1997. [7]
Today, all sugarcane in northern Belize is processed at the Tower Hill factory owned by Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) in Orange Walk. [9]
Plans to reopen the Corozal Sugar Factory have been delayed. In 2007, the largest ethanol producer in Mexico and a Panama company created a joint venture, Destill Belize Ethanol, to reopen the factory and produce ethanol. The factory remains abandoned with a few large ethanol tanks in use adjacent to the main building. [2]
The economy of Saint Kitts and Nevis has traditionally depended on the growing and processing of sugar cane; decreasing world prices have hurt the industry in recent years. Tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking activity have assumed larger roles in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Most food is imported. The government has undertaken a program designed to revitalize the faltering sugar sector. It is also working to improve revenue collection in order to better fund social programs. In 1997, some leaders in Nevis were urging separation from Saint Kitts on the basis that Nevis was paying far more in taxes than it was receiving in government services, but the vote on cessation failed in August 1998. In late September 1998, Hurricane Georges caused approximately $445 million in damages and limited GDP growth for the year.
Orange Walk Town is the fourth largest town in Belize, with a population of about 13,400. It is the capital of the Orange Walk District. Orange Walk Town is located on the left bank of the New River, 53 miles (85 km) north of Belize City and 30 miles (48 km) south of Corozal Town. Despite the English name of the city, its residents are primarily Spanish-speaking mestizos. The city is in a very low-lying area of Belize, though the police station sits atop a buried Mayan pyramid at 49 m (161 ft) tall.
Orange Walk District is a district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town.
San Estevan was the first town in the Orange Walk District of the nation of Belize but later became a village due to migration of villagers to other parts of the country during a great epidemic. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,573 people. The village is approximately 6 miles northeast from Orange Walk Town.
Sweet sorghum is any of the many varieties of the sorghum grass whose stalks have a high sugar content. Sweet sorghum thrives better under drier and warmer conditions than many other crops and is grown primarily for forage, silage, and syrup production.
Muscovado is a type of partially refined to unrefined sugar with a strong molasses content and flavour, and dark brown in colour. It is technically considered either a non-centrifugal cane sugar or a centrifuged, partially refined sugar according to the process used by the manufacturer. Muscovado contains higher levels of various minerals than processed white sugar, and is considered by some to be healthier. Its main uses are in food and confectionery, and the manufacture of rum and other forms of alcohol. The largest producer and consumer of muscovado is India.
Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel. Brazil and the United States have led the industrial production of ethanol fuel for several years, together accounting for 85 percent of the world's production in 2017. Brazil produced 26.72 billion liters, representing 26.1 percent of the world's total ethanol used as fuel in 2017.
Engenho is a colonial-era Portuguese term for a sugar cane mill and the associated facilities. In Spanish-speaking countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, they are called ingenios. Both words mean engine. The word engenho usually only referred to the mill, but it could also describe the area as a whole including land, a mill, the people who farmed and who had a knowledge of sugar production, and a crop of sugar cane. A large estate was required because of the massive amount of labor needed to yield refined sugar, molasses, or rum from raw sugar cane. These estates were prevalent in Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and other countries in the Caribbean. Today, Brazil is still one of the world's major producers of sugar.
Agriculture in Cuba has played an important part in the economy for several hundred years. Today, it contributes less than 10% to the gross domestic product (GDP), but it employs about 20% of the working population. About 30% of the country's land is used for crop cultivation.
Agriculture in Colombia refers to all agricultural activities, essential to food, feed, and fiber production, including all techniques for raising and processing livestock within the Republic of Colombia. Plant cultivation and livestock production have continuously abandoned subsistence agricultural practices in favour of technological farming resulting in cash crops which contribute to the economy of Colombia. The Colombian agricultural production has significant gaps in domestic and/or international human and animal sustenance needs.
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, perennial grass that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. Sugarcanes belong to the grass family, Poaceae, an economically important flowering plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum, and many forage crops. It is native to the warm temperate and tropical regions of India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. Grown in tropical and subtropical regions, sugarcane is the world's largest crop by production quantity, totaling 1.9 billion tonnes in 2020, with Brazil accounting for 40% of the world total. Sugarcane accounts for 79% of sugar produced globally. About 70% of the sugar produced comes from Saccharum officinarum and its hybrids. All sugarcane species can interbreed, and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids.
The citrus industry in the Caribbean is a major one in the Caribbean. Citrus fruits consists of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, limes, and lemons. The Caribbean countries which export citrus fruit are Belize, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique & Trinidad and Tobago.
Uganda's favorable soil conditions and climate have contributed to the country's agricultural success. Most areas of Uganda have usually received plenty of rain. In some years, small areas of the southeast and southwest have averaged more than 150 millimeters per month. In the north, there is often a short dry season in December and January. Temperatures vary only a few degrees above or below 20 °C but are moderated by differences in altitude.
The economy of Belize is a small, essentially private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, tourism, and services. The cultivation of newly discovered oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems for this developing nation. Belize's primary exports are citrus, sugar, and bananas. Belize's trade deficit has been growing, mostly as a result of low export prices for sugar and bananas.
Agriculture in Guyana is dominated by sugar and rice production. Although once the chief industry, it has been overshadowed by mining.
The Guyana Sugar Corporation, or GuySuCo, is a Guyanese sugar company owned by the government. It is the country's largest cultivator and producer of sugar, a historically important commodity in the country. They produce Demerara Sugar for export around the world.
Pelwatte Sugar Industries PLC is a Sri Lankan sugar manufacturing company, which is listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The main sugar factory of the group is located in Buttala in the Moneragala District, Uva Province, about 225 kilometres (140 mi) from Colombo to the east of the country. Pelwatte Sugar was incorporated on 19 February 1981 as Pelwatte Sugar Company Ltd. It became a Public Limited Liability company on 10 December 1982. In 1990, the holding company changed its name to Pelwatte Sugar Industries Ltd. It was first quoted on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1984.
The colonial molasses trade occurred throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the European colonies in the Americas. Molasses was a major trading product in the Americas, being produced by enslaved Africans on sugar plantations on European colonies. The good was a major import for the British North American colonies, which used molasses to produce rum, especially distilleries in New England. The finished product was then exported to Europe as part of the triangular trade.
The first sugar mill in India was established in the year 1903 in Pratappur area of Deoria district.
The sugar industry of the United States produces sugarcane and sugar beets, operates sugar refineries, and produces and markets refined sugars, sugar-sweetened goods, and other products. The United States is among the world's largest sugar producers. Unlike most other sugar producing countries, the United States has both large and well-developed sugarcane and sugar beet industries. Refined sugarcane, processed sugar beet, and high-fructose corn syrup are all commonly used in the U.S. as added sugars to sweeten food and beverages.