Cuban Opens up Foreign Investment in Farming, Sugar Sector

By CnAgri2012-12-25 11:08:07 Print     In order to solve the shortage of fund and technology for farming, the Cuban Government recently decided to open up foreign investment in farming.
 
    Half of its sugar plants (70) were closed down due to higher production cost than the international level. Sugar making was the engine of Cuban economy from the colonial period, but it fell to the bottom in 1990s. Sugar production was 7 million tons in the 1980s, but it fell to 1.38 million tons in 2011.
 
    In the first half of the 20^th century, the US bought Cuban sugar at a favorable price and sugar sales was stable and there was profit to make for Cuba. The success of revolution put an end to the situation. The land reform saw the Government take away American sugar plants and the occupied land, Washington abolished buying Cuban sugar share, which was a serious blow to the Cuban economy. So the Soviet Union replaced the US and bought all Cuban sugar at an even cheaper price. The Cuban produce processing industry survived. The disappearance of the Soviet Union brought crisis to the sugar industry, the market price is lower than the production cost and the Cuban Government decided to close down half of the 150 plants.


From “China Sugar Market Monthly Report”