THE CUBA REVIEW 



31 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



THE EFFECT OF DRY WEATHER ON THE 

 CUBAN SUGAR PRODUCTION 

 The continued dry weather in Eastern 

 Cuba has injured the cane crop through- 

 out that section of the cane growing prov- 

 inces of the Island. Dry weather has con- 

 tinued to prevail throughout the Island 

 during the latter half of April and the 

 first half of May, allowing harvesting to 

 proceed without interruption, but aggra- 

 vating the conditions in the eastern part 

 of Cuba. The cane fields are drying up 

 and yield but little juice, and the results 

 are shown by the heavy shortage in the 

 crops of the mills in Oriente. Centrals 

 "Cupey" and "Ermita" of that province 

 have closed down with only 112,000 bags 

 for the former and 130,000 bags for the 

 latter. Of the mills which send their 

 sugars to Havana, "Providencia" has fin- 

 ished with 170,000 bags against 200,000 

 estimated; "Puerto" with about 29,300 

 bags against 29,000 estimated, and "Pro- 

 tugalete" with about 84,700 bags against 

 85,000 bags estimated. In Matanzas, 

 "Saratoga" has closed down with about 

 52,000 bags and "Isabel" of Manzanillo 

 with 144,270 bags against an estimate of 

 150,000 bags. "Juaragua" of Cienfuegos 

 has finished with 36,542 bags, estimated 

 60,000 ; "Dolores" of Cardenas with 58,000 

 bags, estimated 65,000 bags ; "Guipuzoca" 

 of Cardenas with 174,000 bags, estimated 

 190,000, and "Rio Cauto" of Oriente with 

 141,536 bags, estimated 192,000. For the 

 week ending May 5th total receipts are 

 2,638,828 tons against 2,521,-308 tons at 

 this date last year. Total exports are 

 1,916,823 tons compared with 1,438,000 

 tons at this date last year. 



REMOVAL OF ARGENTINE EMBARGO 

 ON SUGAR 

 Ambassador Stimson, Buenos Aires, 

 cabled May 25, 1920, that the President of 

 Argentina published a decree on May 

 22d, permitting the exportation of sugar 

 up to 100,000 tons, on condition that 30 

 per cent, of each proposed exportation be 

 deposited by each exporter under orders 

 of the Minister of Hacienda. The per- 



mission to export shall terminate and the 

 sugar deposited shall be sold at 4.10 pesos 

 per 10 kilos in the event that the average 

 market price should go above 4.99 per 10 

 kilos for white sugar, or 5.50 pesos per 10 

 kilos for refined sugar within 90 days. 

 The depositor may dispose of the 30 per 

 cent, deposited at will if the price does 

 not reach the above quotations within the 

 90 days. It is the purpose of the decree 

 to fix the maximum price of sugar to the 

 Argentine consmner at 4.10 pesos per 10 

 kilos (Pesos, $0,965; kilo, 2.2046 pounds.) 



ARGENTINE SUGAR CROP 

 The final figures on the sugar crop of 

 Argentina give a production of 270,000 

 metric tons for 1919, of which 225,000 tons 

 were produced in Tucuman, 35,000 tons in 

 Jujuy, and 10,000 tons in Salta, Corri- 

 entes, and El Chaco. This is the largest 

 yield since 1914, and, in fact, the first 

 crop in five years that covered the home 

 consumption of Argentina. The last six 

 crops have produced the following yields 

 in metric tons : 1914, 335,956 ; 1915, 149,- 

 299 ; 1916, 84,069 ; 1917, 88,075 ; 1918, 125,- 

 950 ; and 1919, 270,000. 



The annual consumption of sugar in 

 Argentina is estimated by the Director of 

 Rural Economy and Statistics at 27 kilos 

 per capita, or 234,222 metric tons, for the 

 coming year. For the last four years 

 sugar has been imported, while the crop 

 of this year will probably leave a sur- 

 plus estimated at 52,154 metric tons. Pro- 

 ducers are, therefore, petitioning for per- 

 mission to export, while in view of the 

 fluctuating nature of the yields the Gov- 

 ernment naturally wishes to have at least 

 a part of the surplus carried over to the 

 next crop year. 



EXPORTS OF SUGAR TO MEXICO 

 It is reported by the U. S. Department 

 of Commerce at "Washington that the 

 Mexican Government has suspended the 

 issuance of permits for the exportation of 

 sugar. 



