U.S. Sugar Celebrates 80th Anniversary

April 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Clewiston, FL – U.S. Sugar Corporation, celebrating its 80th Anniversary, once again led the Florida sugar industry in production and efficiency despite devastating freeze damage to the sugarcane crop for the second consecutive year.  In 2010-2011, the company harvested 5.63 million tons of sugarcane which yielded approximately 620,000 tons of raw sugar and 38 million gallons of molasses.

“While we have lost production, it is satisfying to note that all the investments and improvements implemented over the last few years have resulted in our taking far less of a hit due to weather impacts than others in the industry,” said Judy Sanchez, senior director of corporate communications and public affairs.

Sanchez said Florida’s sugarcane crop suffered 12 different freeze events below 28 degrees between January and December 2010, reducing both sugarcane tonnage and sugar yield.   Even though U.S. Sugar started harvesting weeks earlier and ran later than everyone else, the Company harvested 100% of its crop and reported an estimated 8.3% decrease in sugar production compared to last year while the rest of the Florida industry reported 13%-20% decreases.

“U.S. Sugar’s investments in superior infrastructure and technology, its 24-hour harvest program, efficient private railroad transportation system and state-of-the-art sugar manufacturing facility, along with the best people in the industry, enable our business to succeed even under difficult conditions,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the Clewiston Sugar Factory ran extremely well all year and its refinery, currently undergoing a 10% expansion, again is on a potentially record-breaking pace.  In addition to refining 100% of the Company’s raw sugar production, the Clewiston Refinery can import foreign raw sugar and refine it profitably.  That sugar currently is being imported through the Port of Palm Beach.

Over the past 80 years of operation, U.S. Sugar has produced and processed 500 billion pounds of sugarcane, produced 51.3 billion pounds of raw cane sugar, produced 12.6 billion pounds of refined granulated sugar, 1.3 billion gallons of molasses and more than 3 million MW hours of energy.