THE CUB A RE V IE W 35 



Sugar Review 



specially written jor THE CUBA REVIEW by Willett & Gray, New York, N. Y. 



Our last review was dated November 16, 1922, and our remarks at that time 

 indicated, to some extent, that refined sugar buyers had apparently purchased sufficient 

 supplies to last for some time, but this did not prove to be the case, as owing to 

 the poor domestic beet crop and the slow start, there was a larger demand for cane 

 refined sugar than was generally expected and, hence, refiners quickly found out that 

 they did not have sufficient stocks of raws to take care of this demand. Under such 

 conditions, the market advanced from 3%c. c. & f., at the time of our last report, to 

 3^c. c. & f. and on the 25th of November to 4.00c. c. & f. and this price was main- 

 tained for quite a long period, with frequent transactions but mostly of moderate 

 size. The rapid decrease in the available supplies in Cuba encouraged holders there 

 to maintain prices at the 4.00c. c. & f. basis and at no time did they intimate quotations 

 below this figure. This holding of sugar was also encouraged by the slow start of the 

 Cuban crop, owing to unsettled weather and unmatured cane, so that during most of 

 the period under review there was no pressure to sell new crop Cubas for December 

 shipment or for January to March shipments. 



As this report is closed, however, there is a much easier tendency in the whole 

 sugar situation owing to improved conditions in Cuba for grinding of cane and greater 

 number of Centrals grinding, as well as the fact that the first cargo of new crop 

 Cubas has already been forwarded to the Atlantic ports. These facts eased off 

 conditions materially and resulted in a decline of %c per pound in nearby sugars, sales 

 being made at 3%c. c. & f. against 4.00c. previously quoted. Quotations for other 

 deliveries are as follows: First half January 3^c., all January 3J^c. and February, 

 3%c. all c. & f., with buyers' views about 3^c. for early January, 3%c. for late January 

 and 354c. c. & f. for February. 



During the time that Cuban holders were maintaining their basis of 4.00c. c. & f., 

 the producers in Louisiana, as well as our domestic beet crop, used every effort to 

 dispose of sugars, realizing that the price of 4.00c. c. & f., in view of the approaching 

 new Cuba crop, was too high and could not be maintained, and Louisianas sold very 

 largely of their new crop, half of which were refining grades, the last sales being at 

 5.34c., prompt delivery at the American's New Orleans refinery, and which quotation 

 is equal to 3 9/1 6c. c. & f. New Orleans for Cuban sugars. 



The domestic beet sugar manufacturers while advancing their prices for sugar 

 nominally, have only made one advance since the start of the crop, as their opening 

 price for this campaign was 6.80c. and is now 6.90c. seaboard basis. 



The Java Sugar Trust, who control about 90 per cent, of the Java sugar crop, 

 as far as selling is concerned, also took advantage of the high Cuban price and sold 

 very heavily, over 250,000 tons of sugar for June, July and August, 1923 shipment 

 having been disposed of, the greater part to Japan. 



As far as crops are concerned, both the European beet crop and Cuban crop 

 appear to be indicating outturns along previous ideas and a rather curious fact has come 

 to our notice that nearly every one in Cuba is anticipating a crop for the coming 

 season in Cuba of at least 4,000,000 tons, which state of affairs is somewhat extraordinary. 



As we mentioned above, the demand for refined improved quite materially and 

 this necessitated advances in refined sugar during the month from 6.90c. to 7.00c., 

 then to 7.10c. and later to 7.25c., but this latter quotation was never fully maintained 

 and, at this writing, the demand is very dull at the 7.10c. granulated basis. 



New York, N. Y., December 15, 1922. 



