The worst harvest in the country has led the Cuban state sugar group Azcuba to declare that it won’t be able to meet its international commitments to export sugar, reports Oncubanews.
Dionis Perez, director of communications for Azcuba said, “There will be enough sugar to meet the domestic demand.”
Azcuba in mid-May had assured that only 53% of its initial forecast had been produced. As per the plan presented before the National Assembly (unicameral Parliament) in December it was predicted that there would be 911,000 tons of sugar this year.
The plan was to export 411,000 tons and allocate 500,000 tons for domestic consumption. Around 400,000 tons of sugar were planned to export to China.
“Lack of fertilizers, fuel, and the poor condition of sugar mills are the reasons for lower output,” said Perez.
Once a strategic sector of the Cuban economy, the sugar industry is going through a crisis for several years as production has dwindled drastically.
