A forecasted dismal local sugar output has Cuban rum producers and exporters uneasy, reports Reuters. Crops were affected by an economic crisis that has reduced supplies of fertilizer, fuel, and other cane-growing necessities.
Seven of 13 sugar-producing provinces in the country have shown a similar output to last season’s 350,000 metric tons of raw sugar, down from 2019’s 1.3 million metric tons. The problem has been plaguing the country for years, its output continues to drop from a peak output of eight million metric tons of raw sugar in 1989.
"In recent years sugarcane production has decreased and we have to reverse this, because we not only lose sugar but also all its derivatives, including rum,” Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes Mesa said at the close of the last harvest in June.
Historically, Cuba consumed 700,000 metric tons of sugar a year, exporting the rest globally. Full Story (Subscription Required)
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