14 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



CUBAN COMMERCIAL MATTERS 



MARKET FOR AMERICAN STEEL AND IRON 

 PRODUCTS IN CARDENAS 



Cardenas, with a population of 32,000 

 inhabitants, is rated as one of the chief 

 industrial centers of Cuba, and offers a 

 favorable market for the sale of Ameri- 

 can iron and steel products, such as rails, 

 plates, bars, angles, and galvanized sheet- 

 ing. Three large machine shops and 

 foundries located here employ approxi- 

 mately 500 skilled mechanics. These 

 concerns specialize in the manufacture of 

 boilers, tanks, conveyors, and other ma- 

 chinery used in the various sugar mills 

 scattered throughout this consular dis- 

 trict. There is also a recently established 

 factory devoted to the construction of 

 freight cars and similar railroad equip- 

 ment. The "United Railways of Habana 

 (Ltd.)" maintains an important repair 

 shop and construction staff in this city 

 and uses considerable steel for bridges 

 and new trackage. Purchases for this 

 undertaking are made through the com- 

 pany's chief purchasing agent, located in 

 Habana. 



In addition to the above users, there 

 are a number of local hardware houses 

 which keep on hand considerable of steel 

 bars and plates as well as galvanized 

 sheeting. While these houses supply the 

 usual city demands, the great bulk of 

 their business is derived through orders 

 received from the interior sugar estates. 

 Although there is considerable new con- 

 struction under way in Cardenas, these 

 structures, as a rule, are neither very 

 high nor very large, and as they are gen- 

 erally built of brick with tile roofs, the 

 need for reinforcing bars and iron sheet- 

 ing should not be overestimated. 



In the past it has not been customary 

 for local users and dealers to order 

 direct from the mills. Several promi- 

 nent American manufacturers maintain 

 branch offices or resident agents in Ha- 

 bana, and it is through such channels 

 that local orders are customarily placed. 

 Although all of the resident industrial 

 concerns have been working to full ca- 



pacity for months and stocks are 

 extraordinarily low, the impression pre- 

 vails that large orders for raw materials 

 will be deferred until next spring. — 

 Consular Assistant George A. Makinson, 

 Cardenas, Cuba. 



WHEAT FLOUR IMPORTATION 

 REGULATIONS 



The War Trade Board announces in a 

 new ruling (W. T. B. R. 464), after con- 

 sultation with the United States Food 

 Administration, that on and after Feb- 

 ruary 1, 1919, applications will be con- 

 sidered for licenses to export wheat flour 

 to Cuba. 



Hitherto the regulations of the Board 

 have required that shipments of wheat 

 flour to Cuba should be made by the 

 United States Food Administration Grain 

 Corporation to the Director of Subsist- 

 ence, Cuba. After February 1, 1919, this 

 procedure will no longer be necessary. 

 Applications for export licenses permit- 

 ting individual shipments will then be 

 considered when approved by the grain 

 corporation; and to avoid any possibility 

 of delay arrangements have been made by 

 which this approval will be obtained by 

 the War Trade Board in Washington. 



CONTROL OF IMPORTATION OF SUGAR 



The War Trade Board announces that 

 hereafter licenses for the importation of 

 sugar will be issued only to the Sugar 

 Equalization Board, Incorporated, or its 

 nominees. Applicants for import licenses 

 will still be required to give the guaranty 

 now in effect as to the disposition of the 

 sugar. 



In order that importers may be in- 

 formed of the attitude of the Sugar 

 Equalization Board as to proposed ship- 

 ments, it is suggested that they submit 

 their applications for import licenses to 

 the International Sugar Committee at 

 111 Wall Street, New York City, for their 

 approval, before forwarding the same to 

 the War Trade Board at Washington. 



