THE CUBA REVIEW 



29 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE CUBAN SUGAR CROP FOR 1917 



[Consul Henry M. W'olcott, Hiivanii.] 



For the week ended January X, 1!)17, 112 

 ■Cuban sufjar centrals were grinding, as com- 

 pared with 137 in the corresponding week of 

 191<). Twenty-six nulls began operations 

 during the past week. Tlie arrivals of sugars 

 of the present crop total 71,259 tons, the fig- 

 ures for the corres])onding date in 191() being 

 148,942 tons. 



The early estimates of local experts for the 

 present year's (1917) production were be- 

 tween 400,000 and 600,000 tons in excess of 

 last year's record crop of 3,000,000 tons. 

 These estimates were usually given, however, 

 on condition that the weather prove as favor- 

 able as last year, which was abnormally good 

 in that respect. 



The actual results of the grinding up to date 

 are decidedlj' disappointing though there is 

 little doubt that the tonnage of cane available 

 for grinding is sufficiently in excess of last 

 year's cro]) to warrant the optimistic estimates 

 of local authorities. The final results will 

 dej)end on weather conditions for the re- 

 mainder of the season, the labor supply, ren- 

 dement (sugar yield) of the cane, transporta- 

 tion service and other factors at present 

 tlifficult or impossible accurately to predict. 

 Up to the jiresent, dry weather has been gen- 

 erally prevalent, but there has been a notable 

 absence of the cool temperatures usual in 

 December and January. The consequence has 

 been an average rendement below normal. 

 Sb-ike Causes Delay — Yield May Fall Short of 



Estimates. 



The railroad strikes and other labor troul:)les 

 which occurred throughtout the 'sland in 

 December caused great difficulty in the move- 

 ment of machinery -mports tor new mill 

 equipment. The result has been vexatious 

 delays in the installations of new machinery 

 in many ot the mills and consequent tardy 

 beginning of operations. While the railroad 

 strikes have been settled, the supply of labor 

 for the cane fields is far l)elow the demand and 

 it seems likely that there will be a shortage of 

 available labor during the entire campaign. 



Considering all these facts, and counting on 

 normal weather conditions late in the season, 

 it now seems that the volume of the 1917 crop 

 will fall considerably shortof the first estimates, 

 iiotwithstanding the enormous tonnage of 



available cane and the fact tiiat Ki additional 

 mills will probably grind. Many well-in- 

 foruKKl persons are now frankly predicting 

 that the present crop will not much exceed 

 that of 191.5-l(i. However, it seems that such 

 a result could only be brought about by ex- 

 ceedingly unfavorable weather conditions and 

 other vital factors durinp- the balance of the 

 season. 



HONGKONG SUGAR TRADE 



[Conaiil General George E. Anderson, Hon<jkong.] 



^^'hile the sugar trade generally is unusualh- 

 prosperous the refining of sugar in Hongkong 

 is not proceeding in as great a vohmie as was 

 expected a short time ago, especially with ref- 

 erence to the demand for sugar in Russia. The 

 Russian Government has made arrangement 

 for the importation of 300,000 tons of sugar, 

 free of duty during the current year, through 

 Vladivostok, but these imports have been 

 much slower than was anticipated. Most of 

 the trade apparently has gone to Japanese re- 

 fineries and largely represents Formosan sugar 

 production. 



The 1916-17 Formosan crop is unusually 

 large and the Formosan mills have com- 

 menced to grind nearly a month earlier than 

 usual, apparently wirh a view of taking special 

 advantage of the demand for sugar in Russia. 

 The Hongkong refineries so far have sold to 

 Russia only the amount of sugar contracted 

 for at the beginning of the present movement. 

 To date Hongkong has imported about 233,- 

 500 short tons of raw .sugar, as compared with 

 about 250,000 short tons during the like period 

 a year ago. Of these imports the large re- 

 fineries take about 200,000 tons and the bal- 

 ance is brought in by Chinese middlemen for 

 Chinese use. 



Sugar-crop conditions in the Far East as re- 

 ported to the refineries here are very promis- 

 ing as to size and general prospects. In the 

 Philippines the outlook is for a larger pro- 

 duction of high-grade sugar than ever before. 



In Java weather conditions are reported fav- 

 orable for a much larger crop this season than 

 was realized last year. Hongkong's imports of 

 sugar during 1916 have come about 70 per 

 cent from Java, 20 per cent from the Philip- 

 pines, and 10 per cent from Formosa. 



It is of more than passing interest to note 



