The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-12-31
YEAR IN REVIEW by
MY. SUGAR BROKERS
~'SensitNeness' Has Been Char
I. aCteristic Of Market Through
J. out the Year .'",.

y Practically all old crop Cuban sugars
having reached market by the tenth of
q December, Willett & Gray in their sta.
tistical report of December 10, publish
the following resume of the spgar
market for 1915:
SensitiVeness is the word that con
veys the idea Of the market during the
year.
This year started with Cuba Centri-
/ fugals at &c per h. e. & f. to New York,
based on sales for prompt shipment
made December 29, 1914. From Jauu.
airy 22, at 2 15-16c C. & f., steadily
! rising market was experienced until 4c
e.+& {. was reached on February 8.
+ Stocks Low At Beginning
During this period there was felt the
short stocks of Tefners on the start of
the new crop, together with rainy
weather in Cdba delaying production,
but more especially the scarcity of
ocean tonnage to move the crop was the
controlling factor. This &c price oc-
CURED during the height of the enthus-
insm, but it lasted only for one day,
with sales on the succeeding days down
TO 315c c. & f. shortly to be followed
by rise to 1850 c. & f.
=. This price of 4e c. & t. seemed to
have dazzled the eyes of operators, and
many efforts were made during the act
4 i've season to again reach this price,
but it was not until November II, to
b. be exact, when this figure was again
reached. To be sure, 4c was at times
within sight when the market reached
j l0-l6c on four OccasiOns-say March
"a, May 2s, June 30 and August 70
but only to fall back each time, to
again be followed by renewals of adj.
vances bringing in the sensitive
quality of the market. Further proof
of this condition is evidenced by the
ups and downs within small limits sOmc
times, as from May l2 to June 80, prize
es varying between 3Hsc to 3 l3l6c to
8 l5-lGc,
July Prices Were Level
The month of July. was remarkable
for its new fluctuations, only two
changes being recorded, and those dc.
cines.
From August 80 the decline from
3Ac down to the low point of the year
reached on October at 23sc was the
direct cause of the OversOld condition
of the refined sugar market aud tue
iu' " VI h'"ihhh' hh'l lH' 'OHlih' WIN
cessions in prices of refined made by
the refners which holders Of rws hal
to meet in order to effect sales.
Wanted Beets For Nothing
As the time of the harvest Of the 10.
nestle beet crop approached, a rather
peculiar situation developed. Most of
our refnrrs expected that OWN" 20 the
large size of the domestic beet crop
that there would be an early start of
that crop and that the domestic beet
manufacturers would use every effort to
sell sugars and that the demand for
cane sugars from this period on would
be more or less small.
In the meantime most of the cane re
fnPrs had sold considerable quantities
of graduated sugar for export to Eu-
rope, and about the time the market
reached the 3.64c basis statistics show
ed that while the refners had all their
export sales of refined covered by raw
sugars they had made no provision
whatever for the domestic trade
McAdOo's Announcement
As 1t finally turned out the domestic
beet crop started rather late and at
about this time the Secretary of the
Treasury announced his determination
to recommend to Congress the retention
of the duty on sugar after May l.,
1916. As the law stood then and stands
at Ur"sent all sugars are allowed to
come in free Of duty after May 1916
The above two circumstances had the
effect of causing an immediate demand
for cane refined sugars, as at that time
il was believed that owing to the Sec
rotary of the Treasury s announcement
the beet sugar people would not force
the sale of their sugars but would with.
hold offerings, and grocers and jobbers
b throughout the country took the opnor-
tunity of buying cane refined.
+ Caught Refners Mapping
IA we stated above, the refners were
In no position to take care of any in
K creased business in refined cane sugars
Z for domestic consumption, and conse-
quently to meet the domestic demand
they had to enter the market and buy
. raw sugars to cover the sales of refined
! SUGAR to the United States consumers.
I To aggravate the situation there
were several instances among labOrers
on the docks, warehouses and railroads
+ and some refiners who had purchased
1 sugars from store for immediate use
were unable to obtain same. This fact,
L together with the freight congestion in
! the port of New York, cause hy the
4 'AenOrmOns exports of all classes OF goods,
\ mnde any prompt deliveries of sugar in
+ port almost impossible, and rehners
were compelled to pay almost rOntinu,
4 ally advancing prices in order to obtain
desirable lots of sugar in nearby posi-,
/ tions.
Lack of Ocean Tonnage
10 Further compile, iiOns also ensued he
cause Of lack OF .Onnage to carry 81.
O., r,,l \ 4.