THE CUBA REVIEW 



The Plaza at Cienfuegos. 



CIENFUEGOS 



By Consul Charles S. Winans 



The Cienfuegos district prospered greatly during 191S. Tliis prosperity was due to 

 the high price of sugar, the most important product of the island of Cuba. The abnor- 

 mal conditions which reigned during tlie war period, rendering inaccessible or cur- 

 tailing greatly sugar supplies in other parts of the world, were practically unnoticed 

 in Cuba. It is estimated that the 68 active sugar mills located in this consular 

 district, covering the Province of Santa Clara, produced last year 6,397,510 bags of 

 sugar of about 32.5 pounds each, equal to nearly one-fourth of the entire Cuban out- 

 put. This district has been notably free from strikes or similar movements. The 

 shortage of labor, which at one time threatened seriously to curtail the 1917-18 sugar 

 crop, was overcome and the 1918-19 grinding season started favorably. 



GROWTH OF FOREIGN COMMERCE 

 The record figure of §101,151,950 for the total foreign trade of this district in 



1917 rose during 1918 to $111,553,5.59, an increase of $10,401,609, or a trifle more than 

 10 per cent. Comparing the total value of exports from this district in 1917 and 

 1918, it is noted that the 1918 amount of $83,457,953 is $5,050,923 greater than the 1917 

 value of $78,407,030, representing therefore an increase of more than 6 per cent. 



In 1917 exports from the port of Cienfuegos reached a value of $39,261,532, but 

 due to drought last year in parts of the country contiguous to this port, which 

 reduced the production of sugar, the exports of 1918 were worth only $36,935,044, 

 showing a decrease of $2,326,488. The decrease, however, was more than offset by 

 larger shipments from other ports of this district. 



MORE SUGAR GOES TO GREAT BRITAIN 

 Annual declared exports from the ports of Cienfuegos, Sagua la Grande, and 

 Caibarien to the United States for 1918 amounted to $50,906,057, showing a decline of 

 $4,812,778 from the value of $55,718,835 in 1917. This difference is accounted for, 

 however, by the large shipments of sugar to Great Britain, which at the port of 

 Cienfuegos alone amounted to $1,673,324. . 



Sugar and molasses continued to compose the greater part of the exports, with 

 honey and lumber making up minor amounts. The tobacco exports go through Habana, 

 and therefore do not appear in the statistics of this district. Sugar exported to the 

 United States through the ports of Cienfuegos, Sagua la Grande, and Caibarien during 



1918 was Avorth $48,417,751, or $4,769,192 less than the sugar exports in 1917. From 

 the same ports molasses was exported to the United States in 1918 to the value of 

 $2,373,119, showing an increase during the past year of $104,030 in this item. 



