THE CUBA REVIEW 



31 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



GOVERNMENT ESTIMATE 



This year's Cul)aii sugar crop will he ap- 

 proxiuuitoly 2,800,000 tons, accorti.ing U) an 

 official statement issued l)y the Cul)an Clov- 

 erunieiit in Havana, designed to inform all 

 concerned with the statistics of i)rodu(!t ion on 

 the island for the present season. Con^pared 

 with last year's record crop, the tonnage this 

 year shows a decrease of only five per cent. 

 This showing, in view of the present high 

 prices of sugar, and the proved certainty that 

 they cannot be much re(hiced in the immedi- 

 ate future, indicate that the earnings of the 

 various Cuban sugar conii)anies will be large 

 again this year, and that production will be 

 far greater than was recently forecast, though 

 less than originally estimated by six hundred 

 thousand tons. With the settlem.ent of recent 

 labor difhculties in Havana, a fortunate 

 delay in the beginning of the rainy season 

 and the complete collapse of the recent up- 

 rising, all indications are now for the expedi- 

 tious handhng and m.arketing of the output, 

 with fortunate results to the producers and 

 to the trade generally, Cuba having realized 

 her responsibilities as the world's chief 

 sugar producer in the present critical time, 

 due to the European war. 



The Cuban Covernment statement was is- 

 sued by Senor Eusebio 8. Azpiazii, private 

 secretary to President Menocal of Cuba, and 

 was transmitted by cable to the RepubUc of 

 Cuba News Bureau in New York. Secretary 

 Azpiazu's statement is as follows: 



"The original estimates of sugar statisti- 

 cians for the crop of 1916-1917 averaged some- 

 what over .3,400,000 tons. This, in my judg- 

 ment, was too high an estimate, even had there 

 been no internal disorders, and on March 20, 

 bearing this in mind, as well as the attempt 

 at revolt then at its height, I estimated the 

 present crop at 2,850,000 tons. Now, with 

 the crop nearing the end and in view of tele- 

 graphic advices received from all districts in 

 Camaguey and Oriente, I have revised my 

 previous calculations in my estimate, this 

 year's crop cannot exceed 2,850,000 tons as 

 previously estimated and will more probably 

 be nearer 2,800,000 tons. The four western 

 provinces in Cuba have manufactiu-ed to date 

 1,775,000 tons, and in Camaguey there have 

 been manufactured 260,000 tons, in Oriente 



the output to date is 450,000 t(}ns. Even 

 with good weather prevailing for the rest of 

 the season the four western provinces are not 

 likely to manufacture more than 50,000 to 

 75,000 tons, in addition, Camaguey 50,000 

 and Oriente 2.50,000, making the total i)ossi})le 

 cro]) not to exceed 2,850,000 tons as esti- 

 mated in March. 



"This revised estimate, therefore, shows tliat 

 notwithstanding the late start and the at- 

 tempted rebellion, the present crop will have 

 fallen short of the original too optimistic es- 

 timates by less than twenty per cent., and 

 only five per cent, behind last year's record 

 output. The stocks on hand in the Island of 

 Culja today are approximately twenty per 

 cent, less than last years." 



This statement of Secretary Azpiazu, the 

 Republic of Cuba New Bureau pointed out, 

 was reached only after exhaustive inquiries 

 by the Cuban Government, prosecuted by 

 official agencies, and therefore can set at rest 

 the alarmist reports which indicated that the 

 profits of the principal sugar companies would 

 be more or less curtailed. That the ret^erve 

 stocks on hand are less than last years, indi- 

 cates, too, the News Bureau added, that the 

 present price levels due to the improved eco- 

 nomic conditions, must necessarily be main- 

 tained. With the weather continuing favor- 

 able, as it has in the past three months and 

 more, the marketing of the crop will proceed 

 with the utmost facility. 



FORMOSA 



It is officially estimated that the crude- 

 sugar output of the several producing com- 

 panies of Taiwan (Formosa) for the season 

 ending in May, 1917, will be: Taiwan Sugar 

 Manufacturing Co., 190,190,000 pounds; 

 Yensuiko Co., 113,050,000; Dai Nippon Co., 

 81,130,000; Teikoku Co., 66,500,000; Meiji 

 Co., 109,030,000; Toyo Co., 130,310,000; 

 Niitaka Co., 62,510,000; Rin Hon Gen Co., 

 35,910,000; Tainan Co., 8,645,000; Shinko 

 Co., 11,305,000; Taito Co., 5,985,000— total, 

 814,625,000 pounds. 



Last year's production amounted to 463,- 

 261,864 pounds. About 90 per cent, of 

 Taiwan's sugar is exported to Japan and there 

 refined. — Consul M. D. Kirjassoff, Taiwan. 



