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<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Cane farmers and sugar manufacturers embroiled in price war ( RJR )...</span>
With two days to go before the new sugar crop begins, there is now a major stand-off between the island's cane farmers and local sugar manufacturers. This follows Tuesday's decision by the manufacturers to pay a price way below what the farmers were expecting.The farmers were reportedly asking for $2,000 per tonne of sugar, but the figure said to be approved by the manufacturers is $1,420 per tonne.Chairman of the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association, Alan Rickards, says this is not acceptable.His association is to call an emergency meeting to determine the next move. "If we are going to be insulted in this manner we are going to have to have an emergency meeting and consider all the options. The SCJ board met and seemed to have instructed what follows, therefore the cane farmers as joint shareholders, we will have our board meeting and instruct our members as to what follows. There is great anger out there, especially in Westmoreland and I am saying quite clearly that this is going to be a problem," Mr. Rickards said.Mr. Rickards contends that while the farmers may have bowed to pressure in the past, this time they are standing firm."Usually what happens is that the farmers end up with the blade and the manufacturers hold the handle. Well these are different times and this is a period in our industry which involves change and the change begins with the farmers not buckling under the first sign of some proclamation from the manufacturers," he said.Meanwhile, despite the threat by the farmers to withhold their cane, Chief Executive Officer of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Holdings Limited, Aubyn Hill, says this year's crop will begin as scheduled.According to Mr. Hill, sugar manufacturers are not able to meet the farmers' demand for a substantial increase in the price for their cane."One can only do what the money can do and that is what the money says we can do. We worked it all kinds of ways and $1,420 is what we're paying and we are going to have to start the crop on that price. We cannot pay more than what we can get or what we have in the kitty and that is just the reality of life," Mr. Hill said.
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Cane farmers and sugar manufacturers embroiled in price war ( RJR )...</span>
With two days to go before the new sugar crop begins, there is now a major stand-off between the island's cane farmers and local sugar manufacturers. This follows Tuesday's decision by the manufacturers to pay a price way below what the farmers were expecting.The farmers were reportedly asking for $2,000 per tonne of sugar, but the figure said to be approved by the manufacturers is $1,420 per tonne.Chairman of the All Island Jamaica Cane Farmers Association, Alan Rickards, says this is not acceptable.His association is to call an emergency meeting to determine the next move. "If we are going to be insulted in this manner we are going to have to have an emergency meeting and consider all the options. The SCJ board met and seemed to have instructed what follows, therefore the cane farmers as joint shareholders, we will have our board meeting and instruct our members as to what follows. There is great anger out there, especially in Westmoreland and I am saying quite clearly that this is going to be a problem," Mr. Rickards said.Mr. Rickards contends that while the farmers may have bowed to pressure in the past, this time they are standing firm."Usually what happens is that the farmers end up with the blade and the manufacturers hold the handle. Well these are different times and this is a period in our industry which involves change and the change begins with the farmers not buckling under the first sign of some proclamation from the manufacturers," he said.Meanwhile, despite the threat by the farmers to withhold their cane, Chief Executive Officer of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ) Holdings Limited, Aubyn Hill, says this year's crop will begin as scheduled.According to Mr. Hill, sugar manufacturers are not able to meet the farmers' demand for a substantial increase in the price for their cane."One can only do what the money can do and that is what the money says we can do. We worked it all kinds of ways and $1,420 is what we're paying and we are going to have to start the crop on that price. We cannot pay more than what we can get or what we have in the kitty and that is just the reality of life," Mr. Hill said.