THE CUBA REVIEW 



25 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



OPINIONS .ON THE SUGAR MARKET 

 A. H. Lamborn says of sugar: 



"The future market broadens the field for 

 operations for the manufacturer and dis- 

 tributer, for the reason that he can now pur- 

 chase his requirements of refined sugar at any 

 time that he thinks the market at a proper 

 basis to make his purchases. It is not possi- 

 ble to buy refined sugar for future delivery on 

 the Exchange, but instead, a party can buy 

 raw sugar for any delivery beginning with 

 February. Should he buy sugar for Septem- 

 ber delivery on to-day's market it would cost 

 him $3.35 for raw sugar to be delivered dur- 

 ing the month of September. To the price of 

 $3.35 which represents sugar in bond, he 

 would have to add Ic per pound for duty and 

 about Ic per pound for cost of refining, wliich 

 would make the price of about $5.35 for re- 

 fined sugar. The cost of carrjdng these 

 sugars would be $5.00 per ton, which would 

 carry the contract for a depreciation of 15 

 points, and beyond this an additional charge 

 of $5.00, making the investment $10.00 per 

 ton, as against this the cost of carrying re- 

 fined sugars; should he buy them at $J:.95for 

 delayed delivery, he would eventually have 

 to accept same, and the investment involved 

 would be about $110 per ton, and he would 

 have to carry the refined sugar in warehouse 

 until September." 



The Cuban situation is commented upon by 

 the Federal as follows : 



"What the conditions will be later on is prob- 

 lematical, but it now seems quite probable 

 that even after stocks have accumulated in 

 Cuba selling pressure may be avoided because 

 of the inability to ship freely. High rates will, 

 of course, tend to overcome this difficulty , but 

 bidding against the world for tonnage, with so 

 many vessels eliminated, because they are en- 

 gaged as transports, etc. (Great Britain 

 alone, it is said, having 1,600 or more steam- 

 ers), or tied up in neutral harbors, because 

 they dare not venture on the high seas, is not 

 going to be an easy problem to solve. We are 

 now getting close to the first of February and 

 refiners have not yet secured anything like a 

 fair working stock, let alone a surplus, and 

 there is nothing to indicate that they are 

 likely to be able to do so for some little time to 

 come." 



The Czarnikow-Rionda Company say of 

 the sugar market: 



"To the m-isfortune of bad weather this year 

 must be added that of a serious scarcity of 

 steamer tonnage. It has recently been stated 

 by freight journals that the British Govern- 

 ment has chartered an estimated tonnage of 

 1,600,000 to transport troops and supplies, 

 while Germany's merchant fleet, aggregating 



about 2,300,000 tons, is lymg in enforced idle- 

 ness in various ports throughout the world, 

 and even American vessels heretofore engaged 

 in the Cuban and Porto Rican trades with the 

 United States have lately been diverted to 

 more lucrative transatlantic business. In 

 these circumstances it is now estimated that 

 from 40% to 50% of the world's total mer- 

 cantile tonnage has been withdrawn for one 

 reason or another from the usual channels of 

 trade, from which it will be seen at a glance 

 that the phght of shippers of sugar is becoming 

 one of serious concern, and it is to be hoped 

 that ways and means will be found to tide 

 over this emergency, as the solution of the 

 freight problem promises some difficulty upon 

 approach of the season of heaviest consump- 

 tion, when the country always requires to 

 steadily draw large quantities from Cuba." — ■ 

 N. Y. Journal of Commerce. 



PURIFICATION OF JUICE OF SUGAR CANE 



"La Hacienda" makes the following reply 

 to aquery from one of its correspondents in 

 Honduras regarding the effects of using 

 lime in the preparation of sugar, in which 

 he called attention to the fact that all the 

 sugar prepared there is done by open fire 

 and to the appearance at times of a sort of 

 scum on the surface of coffee in which such 

 sugar has been used, said to be caused by 

 the presence of lime in the sugar, and also 

 to the dark color of sugar treated in this way. 



"The trouble in this case has not been 

 from the use of lime, but from the use of too 

 much lime. Although it is true that the 

 juice can be clarified mthout the use of lime, 

 it is impossible to obtain as satisfactory 

 results in this way as when lime is used in the 

 proper manner and in the right quantity. 

 If too much lime is used the sugar becomes 

 dark to a certain extent, but the dark color 

 of sugar prepared by open fire is due princi- 

 pally to the caramelization of the sugar 

 during the time that it is concentrating and 

 is subject to high temperatures. 



"The best method for determining if the 

 proper amount of Ume is being used or not 

 is by testing the juice by means of red htmus 

 paper. This paper may be obtained at any 

 drug store. If the red litmus paper turns 

 blue when put in the alcalized juice, this is 

 an indication that too much hme has been 

 used. This condition can be corrected by 

 adding phosphoric acid little bj^ little to the 

 juice, testing it from time to time with the 

 blue litmus paper. As soon as the blue 

 htmus paper shows the least indication of a 

 red color the use of the phosphoric acid should 

 be stopped and the juice will then be in a 

 proper condition for obtaining the maximum 

 production of first class sugar. If in the 



