Farmers insist on a reform to the law so that they receive an additional payment from part of the revenues generated by the mills from the sale of surplus energy.
The eternal conflict between cane growers and industrialists over the use of cane bagasse in power generation remains unresolved.The Association of Producers of Sugar Cane (Asprocaña) is proposing reforming"... Articles 2 and 39 of the law in which there is talk of the distribution of income between mills and producers, so that the latter receive a share that corresponds to them for the raw material."
A study planned by the Ministry of Economy on the costs of production and marketing of sugar, could help resolve the conflict between sugarcane cultivators and agro industrialists.
Sugarcane farmers continue to demand that they receive an additional payment as part of the revenues generated by the mills from the sale of surplus energy produced.A study that the Ministry of Economy announced that it will carry out, will allow an analysis to be made of the costs of production, consumption and marketing of sugar and honey, and the generation of energy through bagasse.With this study, it will be possible to determine if a reform is necessary to the Law on Production, Industrialization and Commercialization of the Sugar Agroindustry, as proposed by sugarcane farmers.
In 2016 the value of raw sugar exported from Central America amounted to $1,019 million, equivalent to 2.6 million tons, 21% less than than what was sold in 2015.
Figures from the information system on the the Raw Sugar Market in Central America, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
In 2015 Guatemala led the export of raw sugar with $848 million, followed by El Salvador with $178 million and Nicaragua with $114 million.
Foreign Trade figures for Raw sugar in Central America, analyzed by the Business Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData report that in 2015 the countries in Central America exported a combined total of 3 million 292 thousand tons of raw sugar equivalent to $1.289 billion.
A study requested by the union will determine how sugar profits should be divided between producers and industrialists, providing information for a law reform.
The information derived from the study, which according to the Salvadoran Sugar Industry Council, is being undertaken by the FAO, could solve part of the conflict over the distribution of profits between manufacturers and producers.
The Brazilian Raízen has allied itself with the agricultural commodities company Singapore Wilmar, to create the largest exporting sugar group in the world with 4.5 million tons per year.
From a press release by Wilmar:
São Paulo and Singapore, October 4TH, 2016 – Raízen Energia S.A. (Raízen) and Wilmar International Limited are pleased to announce the creation of a new joint venture called "Raízen and Wilmar Sugar Pte.
Agroindustrialists are opposed to the bill with which cane growers intend to establish an additional payment for the bagasse they provide.
The Sugar Association of El Salvador argues that the price paid to sugarcane growers for bagasse is already built into the price of sugar, "... as evidenced by the purchase agreement".
An environmental impact study has been presented for the increase up to 35 MW the capacity of the 'Central Azucarero Jiboa' plant in the department of San Vicente.
In the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in February 2016 by Ingenio Central Azucarero Jiboa S.A., it indicates that the development will be named "Expansion in electricity generation to 34.9 MW" and will be located at the same site as the mill Kilometer 68 ½ on the road from San Vicente to Zacatecoluca in Canton San Antonio Caminos, in the municipality of San Vicente.
In Costa Rica, companies are reporting savings on their electricity bill of up to 30% after having migrated to biomass as a fuel source, and they are demanding legislation that favors its use.
The orange juice producer Del Oro in Costa Rica, achieved savings of up to 28% through the use of a biomass boiler that was installed in 2010, compared to what it cost to maintain it using bunker fuel.
Producers of sugarcane in El Salvador have proposed amending the regulations so that they can receive part of the revenue generated by the mills from the sale of surplus energy produced.
The union of producers stated that the practice of producers receiving revenues generated by the mills from energy production using sugarcane is very common in other countries.
The mill El Angel plans to expand its bagasse power generation plants in order to increase production from 25 MW to 50 MW starting from September 2015.
It is expected that 2015 will see the completion of the fourth phase of the power generation project, which will double the amount of megawatts generated using bagasse. At present 25 megawatts of power are generated, of which only 10.5% are used in the company and the rest is fed into the national grid.