THE CUBA REVIEW 



2i> 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE CUBAN SUGAR MARKET 



In Facts About Sugar Mr. H. O. Neville 

 writes of the condition of the Cuban sugar 

 market and predicts that the prosperity 

 of the Cuban sugar industry will continue 

 for some years, with prices at profitable 

 levels. Mr. Neville says, in part: 



"The sugar market here is in a peculiar 

 position. There is hardly a sugar broker 

 in the island who has not heavy orders for 

 purchase. Other firms dealing in sugar 

 have also many requests for offers, and 

 even many outsiders, who have had no 

 connection whatever with sugar in the 

 past, have been requested to secure offers 

 from producers at certain prices. All re- 

 port the same — that the producers are sat- 

 isfied with the volume of sales already 

 made and desire to await the turn of 

 events before taking on further contracts. 



"All the producers seem to feel secure 

 in their position and confident that the 

 portion of the crop remaining unsold will 

 fetch still higher prices than have besn 

 offered, the actual level to which these 

 prices will go depending very largely upon 

 the firmness of their own stand. The pro- 

 ducers have been strengthened in this 

 opinion by the belief that legislation for 

 continued control of sugar in the United 

 States will fail and that even though the 

 Sugar Equalization Board be continued 

 until the end of 1920, its functions will be 

 of such character that the selling price of 

 Cuba's sugar will not be seriously affected 

 by its operations. 



"A further event which has strength- 

 ened the firmness of the market and pre- 

 vented Cuban producers from offering 

 sugars has been the report that the Louis- 

 iana planters have agreed upon a price of 

 18 % cents a pound for their sugars of this 

 crop. 



"From time to time predictions are 

 heard among persons familiar with the 

 Cuban character and with the sugar in- 

 dustry that a break in prices must occur, 

 but, from what the writer can judge of 

 conditions, it would seem that the heavy 

 demand which exists for sugars for de- 



livery well along into April will prevent 

 any break before that time. 



"The belief is becoming firmer in Cuban 

 sugar circles that the present prosperity 

 of the industry will continue for a num- 

 ber of years at least, and may be perma- 

 nent. The increased consumption per cap- 

 ita in the United States, resulting from 

 the adoption of national prohibition, the 

 probability that other covmtries will also 

 go dry, the increase in consumption among 

 the Chinese, and the report of Sr. Anibal 

 Mesa, who has investigated conditions in 

 the sugar industry in Central Europe, that 

 these conditions are very unfavorable and 

 that it will be many years before these 

 countries again assume importance as 

 sugar exporters — all these considerations 

 have caused Cuban sugar men to believe 

 that there will be a continuous heavy de- 

 mand upon Cuba for all the sugar that 

 can be produced, and that prices will con- 

 tinue at profitable levels." 



ABNORMAL SUGAR CONSUMPTION IN 

 THE UNITED STATES 



As evidence of the abnormally large 

 sugar consumption in the United States, 

 it is interesting to note that the 105,000,- 

 000 people of the United States consximed 

 as much sugar in the year from Septem- 

 ber 1st, 1918, to September 1st, 1919, as 

 the 200,000,000 people of the United King- 

 dom, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and 

 Germany, combined. We have consumed 

 one-quarter of the world's prodiTction and 

 one-half of the world's total exportable 

 surplus, but our sugar tooth is apparently 

 far from satisfied. 



In spite of our large demand and the 

 world shortage, the price of sugar in the 

 United States has been kept far below 

 the world level. Government control of 

 sugar in the United States has saved the 

 people at least $250,000,000 on their 1919 

 sugar bill. — United States Sugar Equal- 

 ization Board, Inc. 



