34 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



FORMOSAN SUGAR 



Present indications are that the large sugar 

 crop in Formosa, which is reported by all 

 authorities as the largest in the history of the 

 Island and actually in excess of the opti- 

 mistic estimates made several months ago, 

 will affect the entire sugar business in F^ong- 

 kong for the current season. The Formosan 

 •crop is placed by sugar authorities at about 

 6,600,000 piculs, or about 440,000 short tons. 

 On this large crop, Japan draws for much of 

 its domestic supply, and the excess is sold 

 abroad. In this case it is sold largely to Cen- 

 tral and North China, and these territories 

 have been peculiarly the field for Hongkong 

 sugar refineries for many years. The result is 

 that Japanese refineries and sugar exporters 

 with their advantage in cheap freights and 

 short hauls are shutting the Hongkong con- 

 cerns out of the Chinese market. So far 

 the China market, for the Hongkong refineries, 

 is practically dead. 



The situation is not promising for the con- 

 sumption of the large Philippine sugar crop 

 in the East, but the general course of sugar 

 production seems to indicate that there will 

 be a considerable supply available in the Orient 

 for distribution elsewhere, if freight accommo- 

 dations can be had at a reasonable rate. 

 Freight accommodations are working to the 

 advantage of Java sugar, so far as the United 

 States is concerned, while they work to the ad- 

 vantage of Formosan and Japanese producers 

 in the trade in China. The Philippines and 

 its big crop suffer disadvantage either way. 



Imports oj Raw Sugar. 



So far this season, the Hongkong re- 

 fineries have imported about 900,000 piculs, or 

 about 60,000 short tons, of raw sugar, which 

 is considerably below the usual purchases. 

 Of these imports, subtantially one-half have 

 come from Java and the remainder from the 

 Philippines and Formosa in about equal 

 amounts. Formosa sugar has been coming 

 into this market in greater quantities than 

 «ver. Imports of sugar by Chinese dealers 

 from all sources have been much below nor- 

 mal, but of these imports those from Formosa 

 have been larger than usual. All sugar 

 authorities in the Far East, however, report 

 slight movement in the trade compared with 

 what the large crops demand. So far as 

 China is concerned, the present range of prices 



is too high for normal consumption. It is 

 probable that a considerable outlet for the 

 surplus stocks will be found in European 

 countries. — Com nl GeneralGeorge E. A nder.-^on, 

 Hongkong. 



IMPURITIES IN RAW SUGAR 



The International Sugar Journal for June, 

 1917, contains an interesting and unusual 

 article concerning raw sugar as imported into 

 Great Britain, in which the statement is 

 made that the question was raised as to the 

 advisability of placing certain semi-refined 

 Java and Cuban sugars on the market for 

 direct consumption. The Food Controllers' 

 Department replied that owing to the large 

 amount of impurities contained in sugar of 

 this class it was unfit for consumption in its 

 raw state. The Department further claimed 

 that the impurities found consisted of sand, 

 clay, specimens of the sugar louse, and iron, 

 which latter element made it unfit for the pre- 

 serving of fruits. The Journal then asserts 

 that these claims have caused considerable 

 sm-prise to the sugar world in general, inas- 

 much as these foreign constituents have been 

 found only in certain low grades, such as 

 Ilo-Ilo, which in normal times are never put 

 into consumption. Formerly, such charges 

 might have been wholly substantiated, but in 

 recent times, such improvements have been 

 made in the process of refining, that one must 

 refuse to believe that the average run of 

 Cuban centrifugals is unsuitable for use as a 

 grocery sugar. If these charges are upheld 

 in the majority of cases, which would not 

 seem to be the fact, judging from the experi- 

 ence of the trade, the high standard of pro- 

 duction must have been lowered to a con- 

 siderable extent. 



NEW SUGAR ESTATE IN SANTO DqMINGO 

 A company capitalized at $200,000 and in- 

 corporated under the laws of the State of New 

 York was recently organized for the purpose 

 of opening up and developing a new sugar es- 

 tate in the Dominican Republic. It has pur- 

 chased about 80,000 acres of virgin land in 

 the Barahona district, embracing territory on 

 both sides of the Yaque River of the south 

 near its outlet. 



While the character of the region is desert, 

 the soil is considered very productive and 

 pe -uliarly adapted to the cultivation of sugar 



