32 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



THE SUGAR INDUSTRY 



SUGAR 



The sugar exports from the United States 

 ill the first year of the war are ten times as 

 much ill vahie as the annual average of the 

 preceding decade. The vahic of the sugar 

 exports of the fiscal year ending with June, 

 in round terms, was 263^ million dollars, 

 while that of the ten years ending with 1914 

 was but 24 millions for the entire period. 

 Most of this goes from the Port of New York, 

 which exported 2J^ million dollars worth in 

 the month of June, while the July and August 

 totals wiU be still higher, since the figures for 

 the single week ending August 21st were $843,- 

 000. Most of this sugar exported goes to 

 Europe, especially to the countries at war. 

 A recent report by the Custom House showed 

 a single shipment of $550,000 worth of sugar 

 to Great Britain, and in the same week $225,- 

 000 to France. The bulk of the exports go in 

 the refined state, chiefly jjroduced in our own 

 refineries from raw sugar brought from Cuba, 

 Porto Rico, Hawaii;in Islands and the Philip- 

 pines, though the quantity re-exported with- 

 out change in condition is about 50% larger 

 than in the preceding year. 



This heavy demand upon the United 

 States for sugar is due to the derangement in 

 Europe's usual sources of sugar supply. 

 Ordinarily about one-half of the world's sugar 

 is produced in Europe, all of it from beets, 

 and, as about 90% of the usual output is the 

 product of the countries now at war, the un- 

 certainty as to the quantity available, or 

 likely to become readily available, has led the 

 countries requiring a reliable suear supply to 

 turn to the United States, which has st its 

 doors the great sugar produci ig islands of 

 Cuba, Porto Rico and Hawaii, and, within 

 its own borders, ample facilities for turning 

 their raw sugar into the refined state. This 

 demand upon the cane sugar producing sec- 

 tion of the world is intensified by the fact that 

 Germany and Austria-Hungary, now cut off 

 from International trade, usually supply 

 about one-half of the Em'opean sugar enter- 

 ing International trade, and passing chiefly to 

 other countries of Europe. Then- exports in 

 1913 amounted to nearly 5 billion pounds, or 

 about one-fourth of the sugar entering Inter- 

 national trade in that year. 



The table which follows shows the sugar pro- 

 duction of the world in the crop year 1913-14, 

 the coimtries being arranged in order of mag- 



nitude of production. The figures for the 

 United States include the production of her 

 islands, the production of the mainland (cane 

 and beet respectively) and of the islands be- 

 ing sej)arately shown in a paragraph following 

 the table. The United States, it will be seen, 

 if its tables are included, now ranks fom-th in 

 the list of world's producers of sugar, but is 

 also the world's largest importer of sugar. 

 56', f, of her sugar consumption is drawn from 

 foreign coimtries, 21% from her islands, and 

 23% from her own fields, about two-thirds 

 of the domestic ])roduct being from beets and 

 one-tliird from cane. The European crop of 

 last year was about 10% below 1913-14, while 

 that of the present season is roughly estimated 

 at probably about 20% below that of last 

 year. The cane crop of 1914-15 is slightly 

 larger than last year. 



World's Sugar Production, 1913-14. 



Short tons. 



Cuba (cane) 2,909,000 



Germany (beet) 2,886,000 



India (cane) (consumed locally). . . 2,534,000 

 U. S., inc. islands (cane & beet).. . *2,244,000 



Russia (beet) 2,031,000 



Austria-Hungary (beet) 1,858,000 



Java (cane) 1,591,000 



South America (cane) 874,000 



France (beet) 861,000 



Africa, including Mauritius(cane). 525,000 



Oceania (cane) , 397,000 



Italy (beet) 337,000 



Netherlands (beet) 253,000 



Belgium (beet) 249,000 



Other (cane & beet) 1,289,000 



Total 20,883,000 



Total beet 9,765,000 



Total cane 11,118,000 



*U. S. production: Continental, beet 733,- 

 000; cane, 300,000; Hawaii (cane) 612,000. 

 Porto Rico (cane) 364,000: Philippines (cane) 

 235,000 in short tons. 



Note. — Principal exports of sugar in 1913 

 (in pounds), Cuba, 5,477,000,000; Java, 

 2,942,000,000; Germany, 2,462,000,000; Aus- 

 tria-Hungary, 2,369,000,000; Mauritius, 455,- 

 000,000; France, 443,000,000; Netherlands, 

 441,000,000; Russia, 326,000,000. Principal 

 imports, 1913, United States, 4,762,000,000; 

 United Kingdom, 3,872,000,000; India, 1,- 

 922,000,000; China, 948,000,000; Canada, 

 670,000,000. 



