THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



Port of Sagua 



The port of Sagua, located on the north 

 coast of Cuba, about 175 miles eastward of 

 Havana, is the nearest Cuban port to the 

 United States. 



It is the northern end of the main lines 

 of the Cuban Central Railways and is 

 connected by rail with the main railroad 

 lines running East, South and West to all 

 points in Cuba. 



A large number of sugar factories are 

 located in this district shipping their sugars 

 and receiving all supplies through the port 

 of Sagua. Almost ten per cent, of the 

 amount of sugar produced in Cuba is 

 shipped through this port. About three 

 hundred thousand tons of sugar and one 

 hundred thousand tons of general cargo 

 (coal, rails, cement, food products and 

 other supplies), are exported and imported 

 annually through this port. 



A spur of the railroad runs along the 

 bay, affording connection from alongside 

 the steamers at the piers to the railroad 

 main lines. Ships loading and unloading 

 cargoes use the piers. Lighters and barges 

 are used only to carry cargoes to and from 

 small points along the coast. 



The terminal shown in the accompany- 

 ing photograph consists of seven ware- 

 houses and two piers. The warehousing 

 capacity is for about 200,000 bags of sugar 

 or about 30,000 tons of general cargo. The 

 piers are 600 feet long and can accommo- 

 date five steamers. 



Outlook for Foreign Imports 



With the approach of the "dead season," 

 the current outlook for business as a whole 

 in Cuba is less encouraging than in April. 

 The demand created during the active 

 grinding season by the money put in cir- 

 culation in payment for wages and supplies 

 has dropped off, and the Upmann bank fail- 

 ure continues to exercise a depressing in- 

 fluence. During the month of May the 

 Government has been going through a very 

 trying period, in which public opinion has 

 become increasingly insistent on reduction 

 of public expenditures and a readjustment 

 in public administration. The proposed 

 heavy increase in internal taxation has 

 caused anxiety in all branches of industry 

 and the marked increases in the customs 



tariffs proposed in the two bills before 

 Congress have made the outlook for import 

 trade less bright. 



Machinery and Automobile Trade 

 Continues Inactive 



Least encouraging are the prospects in 

 the machinery and automobile trade. The 

 former line continues especially depressed. 

 Inquiries for sugar-mill machinery have 

 improved, but the terms demanded by 

 American manufacturers are so strict that 

 only a small amount of business involving 

 new shipments is being done. In normal 

 years this is the season of active inquiry 

 for machinery, but the heavy local stocks 

 of general machinery overhanging the 

 market are moving very slowly. 



Automobile imports show a decrease in 

 May, as compared with March and April. 

 In each of the former months more than 

 150 automobiles and trucks were imported. 

 In May, 1 truck and 113 automobiles were 

 entered. All came from the United States 

 and, with few exceptions, were of inex- 

 pensive makes. 



Nevertheless, in a number of lines the 

 inquiries, the orders, and the actual im- 

 portations continue to furnish contrasts to 

 the otherwise pessimistic tone of the 

 market. 



Iron and Steel Sales Increase 



Iron and steel imports continue to come 

 almost exclusively from the United States. 

 The number of items reported in the steam- 

 ship manifests in May (excluding 4,372 

 items of hardware) is 88,929, as com- 

 pared with 53,793 in April. Barbed wire 

 sold strongly in May, and the first weeks 

 of June show a continued increase of activ- 

 ity. Iron and steel purchases in general 

 are now slackening for the summer. There 

 are indications that buying for the fall 

 months will begin earlier than usual. 



Textiles Show Improvement 



In general. May was a better month 

 than April in the textile trade. Purchases 

 for cash are being made from new sup- 

 pliers in the United States by many firms, 

 which have recently settled outstanding 

 accounts with x\merican manufacturers at 

 heavy discounts, or whose accounts are 

 still subject to settlement. American cot- 



