Cuba may import sugar due to worst crop since 1900

Rum production suffers Cuba's sugar harvest is down to its lowest volume since 1900, forcing the government to import and putting increasing pressure on domestic production of rum, soft drinks and medicine, according to official reports, two economists and an industry source for rum, BTA reported. President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in late April that the state industry had produced 71 percent of the planned 412,000 metric tons, or just under 300,000 metric tons, and would continue production in May. Cuba produced 350,000 metric tons last harvest, and while some sugar mills remain open, yields plummeted in May with the onset of hot, humid weather accompanied by summer rains. "This means we will have to import. Less sugar means there is less syrup and alcohol for various industries and, of course, rum," commented Cuban economist Omar Everlini. The communist-ruled Caribbean island nation was once the world's largest sugar exporter, producing 8 million metric tons of raw sugar in 1989 ...