T HE CUBA R E V I E W 



27 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE SUGAR MARKET AT RIO DE JANEIRO 



A retrospective view of the suj^ar market of 

 Kio de Janiero chiriiip; 191() sliows that in this 

 article as in many others, l^ra/il has profited 

 by conditions brought about l)y Ihc lluropcaii 

 war. 



While the foreign markets did not order 

 as heavily, perha])s, as some i)eo])le had 

 expected, relativel}' large quantities of Braz- 

 ilian sugars were placed abroad and a 

 considerable amount of money was made 

 by growers here in exporting. The market 

 prices within the coimtry remained low and 

 therefore favorable for export transactions. 



Ex]3orters are looking forward to in- 

 creased shipments during 1917, although it 

 would seem that this will l)e governed largely 

 ])y the conditions of the domestic markets, as, 

 so far as maj- be judged, the actual produc- 

 tion of the country has not been perceptibly 

 intensified nor increased. 



Lack of Proper StatisHcs. 



In this connection the Associacao Commer- 

 cial (Board of Trade) of Rio de Janeiro has 

 once more pointed out that the lack of care- 

 ful national crop statistics, and of statistics of 

 domestic manufacturer and production gen- 

 erally, makes it almost impossible in Brazil to- 

 day to show any foresight, or to take any 

 active measures to control and direct a mar- 

 ket, or to make it profit by any exceptionallj^ 

 good foreign conditions that may arise. The 

 only statistics that the Republic appears to 

 have of this sort are those of the consimio tax 

 (internal-revenue tax on manufacture, pro- 

 duction and consiunption) and these figures 

 are not shown in their entirety bj^ pubUcation. 



The attempt made in November, 1916, to 

 direct exports toward Argentina was a failure 

 because of the low prices prevailing in that 

 market. This, however, did not discourage 

 the growers and those of northern Brazil and 

 of Campos renaained firm in their ])olicy of 

 careful releasings, so as to keep the market on 

 their side and export as niuch as possible to 

 Europe. 



Russia Expected to he an Important Market. 



It is expected that during 1917 Russia will 

 prove to be a valuable market. It is expected 

 that in 1917 that country may require 1,400, •■ 



000 tons, or 23,S00,000 l)ags, as bags of sugar 

 figure in Brazil. 



During 1916 the total entries of sugars into 

 Rio de Janeiro amounted to 1,. 542,(194 bags, 

 of 'which 1,488,701) bags were either con- 

 sumed locally or shipped abroad, leaving in 

 warehouse on December 31, 1916, 371,9SZ 

 bags. Sergipe, Maceio, Pernambuco, Santa 

 Catharina, Campos, Bahia, Espirito .Santo 

 Parahyba, Xatal and Minas Geraes were the 

 chief remitting points to Rio de Janeiro. — 

 Consul General Alfred 1. Moreau Coltsrhalk^ 

 Rio de Janeiro. 



INDIA'S SUGAR YIELD 



The Inilian Department of Statistics has 

 issued its final general memorandum on the 

 sugar cane crop of 1916-17, basing its cal- 

 culations upon reports received from Prov- 

 inces that contain 99 per cent, of the area 

 under cane in British India. As given in the 

 Indian (Government) Trade Journal, the 

 total area is estimated at 2,414,000 acres, as 

 against 2,391,000 acres, the revised figure of 

 last year, showing an increase of 1 per cent. 

 The total yield of raw sugar (gur) is estimated 

 at 2,626,000 long tons, as against 2,634,000 

 tons, the revised figure of last year, or a 

 decrease of 0.3 per cent. 



In addition to the areas embraced in these 

 totals, sugar is grown on a small scale in 

 certain other tracts in British India, and the 

 average area of such tracts for the last five 

 years has been some 23,000 acres. An addi- 

 tion of approximately 1 per cent., or 2.5,000 

 tons, should therefore be made to the total 

 estimatetl yield on this account. 



Of the total area under sugar cane in 

 British India, the United Provinces are 

 credited with 53.2 per cent.; the Punjab 

 with 15.3 per cent.; Bihar and Orissa, 11 

 per cent.; Bengal, 9.4 per cent.; Madras, 3.8 

 per cent.; Bombay and Sind, 2.7 per cent.; 

 Assam, 1.5 per cent.; Xorthwest Frontier 

 Province, 1.3 per cent., and the Central 

 Provinces and Berar, 0.9 per cent. 



GUADALOUPE 



The latest estimate placed on the sugar crop 

 of 1916-1917 states that it will be approxi- 

 mately 45,000 short tons, which is larger than 

 last j^ear. 



