Cubans should receive the usual four pounds of sugar per month through the book if the forecasts are met, which is not so clear in light of the data offered this Thursday by Granma. The official newspaper lets it be understood that the harvest 2022-2023 follow the steps of the previous one, which was worst ever so farwith barely 480,000 tons of sugar out of the 911,000 forecast, which caused a deficit of 60,000 tons for national consumption.
Although the government announced in May 2022 Since the sugar in the basket was guaranteed, food companies have been forced to negotiate a solution due to the lack of one of the two varieties. Until now, each province is distributing the four pounds with an established assortment, in some there are two crude and two refined, in others three and one and so on until different combinations are covered. This is over and now the full amount can be completed with any variety.
Since the end of 2022, he counted Granma Leticia Ojeda, commercial director of the Food Group of the Ministry of Domestic Trade, there have been distribution problems with the product in some provinces, either due to shortages or mere delays. “As there were pending, there were provinces in which the consumer, when he went to buy his errands at the beginning of the month, could only be sold two pounds of sugar, and the rest was delivered to him in the course of the following weeks,” it was stated. defend.
Among the most affected are Artemisa, Matanzas, Pinar del Río and Havana, which in some municipalities have not yet received the January
Among the most affected are Artemisa, Matanzas, Pinar del Río and Havana, which in some municipalities have not yet received the January one. In addition, the deliveries corresponding to February are 60% fulfilled, with delays in Artemisa, Havana, Mayabeque and Pinar del Río. As for Pinar del Río and Artemisa, the problem lay in the delay of the 30 de Noviembre plant, which lost two turbogenerators and a boiler due to breakdowns.
The case is similar to that of Mayabeque, where an attempt is being made to repair two turbogenerators from the Boris Luis Santa Coloma mill. Havana, on the contrary, has problems with the transfer of the product from Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus and the Port of Carúpano, highlighted Dionis Pérez, director of Information Technology, Communications and Analysis of the Azcuba business group.
The official did not hesitate to refer to the United States as responsible for the sector’s poor results, “which cannot be isolated from the obsolescence that the sugar industry suffers today and the negative impact of the United States blockade on the acquisition of resources for repair and maintenance of machinery, transport and industry”.
In this context, he added, it is important to move “towards a business model in which diversification and the circular economy – the use of everything that cane gives – can offer you enough money, in order to increase profitability, boost your development and guarantee growth.
By 2023, the Domestic Trade Food Group plans to receive 310,000 tons of sugar per plan, of which 240,500 are for the family basket. However, the results of the small harvest were not encouraging. In the first two months of the 2022-2023 cycle, only 69% of what was planned was obtained.
The news of the sugar deficit comes at a very bad time. The product props up food in homes in the absence of other ingredients. Eating a glass of water with sugar for breakfast is a widespread practice on the Island due to the lack of milk and coffee. Despite the negative effects on health, the Cuban flagship product continues to be a lifeline for many families.
Private businesses have also been feeling for months the reduced availability of sugar on the black market, for the preparation of sweets, sweets and other dishes that are frequent on the tables of cafeterias and private restaurants.
Given the lack of sugar in the nation that was once called “the world’s sugar”, the digital portals that sell food for emigrants to buy for their relatives on the Island offer the national product but also imported ones. About three kilos are over $11 through those sites.
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