The Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC) warmly welcomes the announcement that Santander Sugar Limited and Sucro Limited—through its new joint venture, Caribbean Sugar Refinery (CSR)—intend to build a new cane sugar refinery at Santander’s current sugar mill in Western Belize.

SAC views this development as a crucial step toward fulfilling the objective of the regional integration of sugar within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), bringing certainty of regional supply of all grades of sugar to industrial users and consumers of sugar alike.

Currently, the CARICOM region is one of the only trading blocs which has relied on extra regional sugar importation for manufacturing purposes. This project will fulfil regional demand, bring more employment to the region and help CARICOM meet its food security goals.