28 



THE CUBA K E \- 1 E W 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



sold Central ••San Iirnado" for approxi- 

 n)at»*ly .'Sl.'.fMXMM.M*. Tliis sale offsets the 

 purchase of Central "Violeta," a planta- 

 tion which was recently acquired for 

 about $S.(MK>.<iOO. The plantation which 

 was sold produced 78,260 bags of sugar 

 this season and the one which has been 

 acquiretl produced 125,712 bags in the 

 1918-1010 season. 



Another mill which lias changed hands 

 recently is Central "San Agustin" in 

 Santa Clara, which the Atkins interests 

 have acquired from Rodriguez Cantera & 

 Company of Caibarien for $3,800,(HX>. It 

 is reported that the new- owners will 

 spend a considerable sum in increasing 

 the capacity of the mill. 



The "Dolores" sugar mill at Yaguajay 

 has been purchased by Armando Gomez 

 and associates of Caibarien for the sum 

 of $1,600,000. 



Other mills that have been acquired 

 recently by American interests are the 

 Centrals "Hatillo" and "Santa Ana" in 

 Oriente, Central "Progreso" in Matanzas 

 province and Central "Rosario" in Ha- 

 vana province. These purchases involved 

 many millions of dollars. 



NEW SYNDICATE 



One of the most important develop- 

 ments which has taken place in the sugar 

 world recently is reported in Facts About 

 ^ufior. and comprises the formation of a 

 syndicate of mills embracing properties in 

 Santo Domingo and Cuba, whose total 

 output will be close upon 1,000,000 bags of 

 sugar a season. 



The new syndicate is known as the 

 Cuban-Santo Domingo Sugar Develop- 

 ment Syndicate. Its moving spirit seems 

 to be Thomas A. Howell, president of 

 B. H. Howell, Son & Co., and connected 

 with a number of leading sugar enter- 

 prises, including the Cuban-American, 

 Cardenas- American, and Colonial Sugars 

 companies and the National Sugar Refin- 

 ing Company. 



The syndicate is reported to have been 

 underwritten by Potter Brothers for 



S;:',i'.(i(io.(i(iu. of this amount, it is under- 

 stood, alKiut .$10,00(:t,0(K>, or approximately 

 oO per cent., has been paid in, the balance 

 being subject to call. According to re- 

 ports, however, those interested in the 

 syndicate anticipate that the crops of the 

 next three seasons will take care of the 

 balance outstanding on purchases of prop- 

 erties, and that it may not he necessary 

 to call the remaining 70 per cent, for 

 which members of the syndi<ate are lia- 

 ble. 



One of the acquisitions of tlie new syn- 

 dicate is the interest of Bartram Broth- 

 ers, Inc., in the Consuela and San Isidro 

 estates in Santo Domingo. These mills 

 have a combined output of some 50,0(X> 

 tons, or from 325,000 to 350,000 bags. 



Another project which is taken into the 

 syndicate is that of the Barahcma Sugar 

 Company, at Barahona, Santo Domingo. 

 This company is allied with the West In- 

 dia Sugar Finance Corporation and the 

 organization of the syndicate apparently 

 has been due largely to interests associ- 

 ated with that company. 



No official announcement of the extent 

 of the Barahona project has been made, 

 but it is known that it includes an ex- 

 tensive irrigation system and involves the 

 erection of a large sugar mill. Work on 

 the enterprise has been under way for 

 some time, machinery for the mill having 

 been ordered and most of the irrigation 

 work carried out. 



The Cuban holdings of the new syn- 

 dicate appear to be located mainly in 

 Oriente province. The principal mill 

 accjuired so far is Central Hatillo, which, 

 with Central Santa Ana, also acquired by 

 the syndicate, totals an output of some- 

 thing like 175,000 bags. These two cen- 

 trals were bought recently by the Royal 

 Securities Company of Canada at a price 

 reported to be about .$9,000,000. The same 

 company also bought a short time before 

 Centrals Rio Cauto and Palma. 



Rio Cauto does not seem to enter into 

 the present deal, however, but it is un- 

 derstood that Palma will in all probabil- 

 ity become one of the syndicate mills. 



