The sector had estimated a total production of 13.75 million quintals but the lower results are due to climate factors.

The president of the Sugar Association of El Salvador, Mario Ernesto Salaverria, told Elsalvador.com that "... the decline could have been bigger, but was offset by an increase of 5% in industrial productivity, or performance per pound of short ton processed at the mills.”

The sector generated 49.000 jobs, including those hired to cut cane and those distributed in industrial processes and logistics.

Source: elsalvador.com

More on this topic

El Salvador: Reduced Sugar Harvest

April 2014

Projected production for the period 2013-2014 will be 5% lower than the previous harvest, which reached 16.7 million quintals.

Moisture problems that have affected crops reduced total sugar production to a lower level than initially projected by producers.

"We have had excess moisture, which has not allowed the sugar cane to concentrate efficiently," said Mario Salaverría to elsalvador.com.

El Salvador Produces 16.8 million Quintals of Sugar

May 2013

The sugar sector exceeded its production goals for the 2012/13 season, closing with 16.8 million quintals of sugar, 12% more than in the previous harvest.

"The sector is counting on productivity, for which the mills with cane growers have invested in new technologies and farming methods in order to increase efficiency and productivity," said Mario Salaverria, president of the Sugar Association (AESA ).

Good Cane Productivity in El Salvador

April 2012

On average 235 pounds of sugar per ton of sugarcane is yielded, the highest average in the isthmus, and sugar producers want to increase that number in the current harvest.

The national average is 235 pounds of sugar extracted per ton of cane and the next closest is that of Costa Rica, with 225 pounds. The lowest is Guatemala, with 213 pounds extracted, although they produce the most.

Sugar Generates 48,000 Jobs in El Salvador

January 2012

Sugar cane harvesting and production will generate about $80 million in wages until April. The sector contributes 2% of GDP.

The cutting of cane and sugar production will generate approximately $80 million in salaries between November and next April, said the president of the Sugar Association of El Salvador, Mario Ernesto Salaverria, in an article on Salvador.com’s web site.