THE CUBA REVIEW 33 



SUGAR REVIEW 



Specially written for "The Cuba Rcviciv" by Willctt & Gray, New York. 



Since we wrote you last on January 7th, we have issued our Annual Statistics 

 of the sugar business of the United States for the year 1918. 



Total receipts of raw sugar at the United States Atlantic Ports during the entire 

 year amounted to 2,169,076 tons as against 2,346,104 tons in 1917 and 2,714,051 tons 

 in 1916. Of the quantity imported in 1918, 1,720,917 tons came from the Island of 

 Cuba, 300,096 tons from Porto Rico, 104,673 tons from Hawaii, 19,930 tons Domestic 

 (Louisiana) 6,486 tons from the Philippines and the remaining 16,974 tons in small 

 lots from other West Indian, Central and South American countries. 



We make the average cost and freight quotation of 96° Cuba sugars to New 

 York for the year 1918 5.014c, against 5.208c in 1917 and 4.767c in 1916. 



We figure the consumption of the entire United States for the year 1918 as 

 3,495,606 tons, based on refined value of sugar consumed, a decrease of 5.104% from 

 1917 when 3,683,599 tons were consumed. The per capita consumption is 73.36 

 pounds for the year against 78.58 pounds in 1917. Of the total consumption for the 

 year 1,881,244 tons consisted of Cuba sugars, against 1,506,876 tons in 1917. 



According to advices from the Island of Cuba the crop conditions as regards the 

 weather, etc., continue very satisfactory, and at this writing there are 187 centrals at 

 work. The arrivals of these sugars are increasing weekly at the Atlantic Ports and 

 are being absorbed by our refiners. 



Grinding season in Louisiana is now in its final stages and all factories will be 

 closed down within another week or two. The unfavorable weather that prevailed 

 practically throughout the entire month of January led to the abandonment of more 

 or less cane. It is likely, however, that the final figure will be in the neighborhood 

 of our estimate of 244,000 tons. 



Our domestic beet crop is likewise nearing its end with only a few factories still 

 at work. We have revised our estimate of the crop, increasing our previous figure 

 by some 30,000 tons, and now look for a final outturn of approximately 665,000 tons. 



Owing to the small demand from Canada the Food Board has been having diffi- 

 culty in disposing of the full duty sugars arriving here in transit, Canadian refiners 

 being well supplied at present and importers here have been requested to temporarily 

 stop the importation of such sugars, San Domingos, etc., unless same have already 

 been sold, or seller is willing to assume all risk for same, as regards storage charges, 

 etc. 



All domestic restrictions on the consumption of refined sugar have been removed, 

 including the zone system, whereby Eastern refiners were restricted to the selling 

 of their product on the Eastern Seaboard. The demand, however, for refined sugars 

 continues very light, the trade apparently still being well covered in their require- 

 ments, particularly in sections where beet sugars have been selling and our refiners 

 would doubtless be hard put to dispose of their accumulations of refined sugar were 

 it not for the fact that some of them are working on export orders for the British 

 Royal Commission, under the option whereby they agreed to refine 300,000 tons of 

 Royal Commission Cubas on a toll basis during the year 1919. On this basis quota 

 for January-March would be about 75,000 tons which option has been taken up by the 

 Commission and against which our refiners have been shipping. The export price 

 of refined sugar to neutral countries has been fixed at 7.82c, say the domestic price 

 9c less 2% and with benefit of lc per lb. drawback on Cuba sugars, and with the 

 removal of the restrictions on exports to the neutral countries there is a moderate 

 business doing from day to day, although same is by no means as large as it would 

 be were the price not so high, many of the European neutrals having bought Java 



