24 THE CUBA REVIEW 



AMERICAN SUGAR REFINING COMPANY 



Till' iiiimial ivport of tlu> Aiin-rkiin Hua-M Kfliiiiii;.' ('(iiiiiKiny for the calendar 

 yi'jir r.il!> shows an increase in voliinu' of luishicss (Imii' rioin .^iMMMrtH^KK) to .$:'.(>0,- 

 (»(KMM»<> roiupart'd wiili lOlS. Tlio proflts from opcnit ion wcit- Sl<i.l.*s.".,<»si.<.»2. Tin- 

 oprnitinj; iimlii mi the .^.'MKt.iHMMMM^ vohnne is alioiii :'. cents on cacli dollar of tuni- 

 ov»'r and is dcsnilii'd as a niarj^in so narrow as to In- vciy near an even lircak. 



Tlir coinpaiiv's share of Iho sujjar Imsiiii'ss of tlic rnilt"<i Stales has decreased 

 from <;u jH'r <'ent. in I'.KMt to liT per cent, in r.»r.> and the husiness of its competitors 

 has increas»Hl corresiioiidinj.dy. To put tlie coini»any in position (o siiare the j,'«'neral 

 ;:rowtli of husiness wilii competitors, it is increasing; its capacity at r.ostoii, makiiii,' 

 .ready to hnild a new retinery at Baltimore, and lias puidiased a raw sujrar planta- 

 tion, Central Cuna^rua. in ("uha. Tlie c<iini>any owns hut r, oi the lIJ cane siipir re- 

 fint'rii's of the country. 



Consumption in tlie I'liited States exceeded 4,<mM),(mi(» tons for liie lirst time. Tl*is 

 is niMMMKi tons more than 1!»1S and 200,000 nun-e than P.M."), the highest pii'vious year. 



Tlie production of Cuha and the United States lield is shown to have increased 

 from l.ir.(;,:;4T tons at tlie close of the Spaiii.sh-Aiiierican war in ISDS to 4,2tM»,r):{:{ in 

 i;ti:{, the last pre-war year, and to t;,17o,204 in liUll. Ciiha's increase alone is more 

 than l,n(,u i>er cent, since iS,\)S. "If," .says the rejiort, "the industry of the I'nited 

 States and of Cuba has tiie continued suiiitoit of the respective (Jovernments, there 

 are many rea.sons to exiiect that it will hold a lar^c part of the l)usiness which has 

 coiiK' .so unexpectedly during tlie course of the war." 



The report explains tlie shiiiments of refined sugar to the Royal Commission 

 on the Sugar Supply representing Great liritain, Franct' and Italy, whicli created 

 "consideralde confusion in tlie jiuhlic mind." This sugar was the prop«'rty of the 

 Koyal Commission and was merely refined here for its account, forming no part of 

 the supply allocated to the Unit«Hl States. Tliis husiness l)enefited domestic con- 

 sumers in that the increased v(dunie helped to overcome rising costs of refining. 

 The company maintained for more than sixteen months up to January 13, 1020, a 

 whok'.sale pricv on domestic husiness of 9 cents less 2 per cent. cash, discount. All 

 sugar refined hy the company regardless of destination was handled on the margin 

 agreed upon with the E(iualizatioii Board for domestic l)usiness. The real exports 

 of refinetl sugar from the I'liited States to foreign coinitries were 182,539 tons in 

 I'.iio compared to 150,550 in lOlS, 451,221 in 1917 and 703,802 in 1916. 



The .ioiiit purcha.se of Cuhan sugar hy the Governments of the United States, 

 <;reat Britain, France, Italy and Canada expired December 31, 1919, "yet the legal 

 power of control over the domestic situation," says the report, "contiiuies in the 

 rresideiit of the United States under a special Act "of Congress." 



The <1' struction of beet sugar factories in Europe during the war shows that 

 4 in Belgium, 21 in Poland, and about 150 in France were apparently put out of 

 commission. The Russian industry is demoralized. 



Charts and diagrams appeiideil to the report show that the company maintained 

 a wholesale price on domestic Itusiness of 9 cents less 2 per cent, cash discount from 

 September 9, 1918, to .January 13, 1920. a period of more than sixteen months. Th»» 

 price of sugar in the United States has remained consistently lower than in other 

 i-ountries. 



From Octolter 15th to the end of the year the North Atlantic Coast refineries 

 were restricted to the territory east of Buffalo and Pittsburgh. 



Half of the sugar con.sumed in the United States in 1919 came from Cuba, about 

 one-fourtli from domestic cane and beet, and the other fourth from Hawaii, Porto 

 Uico, Philii.itines and various other regions. Cuba's entire production was one- 

 fourth of the world's production, European beet one-fourth, India one-seventh, Java 

 one-tenth, and United States beet and cane one-twentieth. 



