THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



SUGAR F.XPORTS 



The value of supir exported from the 

 United States in the calendar year 191(3 was 

 in round terms SIOO.OOO.OOO, against S-13,- 

 000,(KJO worth in Utlo, slS.OOO.OOO in 1914 

 and less than .S2,000,0()() in I9i:i, the year im- 

 mediately preceding the war. In ealiinfj; atten • 

 tion to these figures, the foreign trade depart- 

 ment of the National City Bank states that 

 the United States had never been an exporter 

 of sugar in any considerable quantity until 

 the exigencies of the war rendered inaccessi- 

 ble the sugar producing area from which 

 Western Europe had l:)een accustomed to 

 draw its supplies. Germany, Austria-Hun- 

 gary and RiLssia, as the world's greatest 

 producers of beet sugar, had met all the 

 sugar requirements of the remainder of 

 Europe, but when their supplies became 

 no longer available by reason of war con- 

 ditions, and those of France and Belgium 

 were greatly reduced, the remainder of Europe 

 necessarily turned to the cane sugar section of 

 the world for its supply. Cuba, Java, the 

 Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico and the Philip- 

 pines are the world's largest producers of cane 



sugar for exportation, (India is a large i>ro- 

 (hicer, but has none for exportation), and as 

 Java distributes most of its output to adjacent 

 Asiatic countries and Cuba, Porto Rico and 

 Hawaii send practically all of their sugar 

 direct to the United States, our own market 

 became the chief source from which Europe 

 could draw sugar, especially in the refined 

 form, since the cane producing islands of the 

 world export most of their product in the raw 

 state. As a consequence, the quantity of 

 sugar exported from the United States 

 jumped from 52,000,000 pounds in 1913 to 

 390,000,000 pounds in 1914, 903,000,000 

 povmds in 1915 and approximately^ 1,750,000,- 

 000 pounds in 1916. 



The increase in total value of exports last 

 year is partlj' due to the increase in the price. 



PHILIPPINE SUGAR CENTRAI^ 



According to Commerce Reports, the sugar 

 planters of the Province of Negros had a meet- 

 ing recently to consider the prospects of erect- 

 ing .sugar centrals in this district. The plant- 

 ers interested represented valualjie sugar 

 raising land of about 10,000 acres. 



SUGAR REVIEW 



Specially urittenfor The Cuba Review by Willett & Gray, New York. 



Our last review for this magazine was dated December 7, 1916. 



At that date, Cuba Centrifugal sugar 9o° test basis, was quoted at 4 ll-16c. c. & f. (5.69c) 

 and is now 4% c. & f. (5..39c.j, showing a decline of 0.30c. per lb., but in the interim, the 

 market has been as low as 4 l-16c. c. & f. (5.0Sc) as recently as December 27. Since that 

 date the market has turned upward until at this ^\Titing, it is difficult to buj' at below 4.50c. c. 

 &f. (5.52c). 



It had been generally anticipated that the low point of the Cuba crop from which the 

 steady- season rise would be made, would be rather below 3%c. c.&f. at which it started for 

 futiu-es. This anticipation has been made void by reason of the late openmg of crop making 

 and absence of earh* new crop receipts, to replace the demands made on old crop stocks by the 

 needs of refiners. At this A\Titing, the local stocks are quite small and refiners are now depen- 

 dent upon their actual importations from week to week and supplies from this source promise 

 to be somewhat limited until well into February. 



The original Cuba crop estimate, as made by Messrs. Guma-Mejer of 3,572,571 tons will 

 scarcely be reached from the present pro.spects, and we see no reason at present, to change our 

 estimate from 3,400,000 tons. 



Our figures for the year 1916, are now complete, as given in our ''Weekly Statistical Sugar 

 Trade Journal" issue of Januarj' 4, 1917. 



The consumption of sugar in the United States in 1916, was 3,658,607 tons, a decrease of 

 142,924 tons from 1915, of which con.sumption, Cuba contributed 1,636,548 tons, against 

 1,841,602 tons in 1915. Exports of refined sugar contributed to largely by Cuban raws. 



