Norwich bulletin., 1917-05-07
The Beet Sugar Industry in the Uni
 ted States and Europe.

Tha announcement that S10,o 900
 worth of new beet sugar factories are
 under construction in the beet sugar
 area of the United States, chiefly the
 section lying west of the Missouri
 River, calls attention to the rapid
 growth in beet sugar production In
 compiled by the National City Bank
 of New York. These show that the
 quantity Of beet sugar produced in the
 United States grew from 5000. 900
 logs, ,0oo coo in 1910. and 1,642,000,00O
 h 1916 Only ten years ago. in 1906,
 he production was but 626,000,000
 pounds, and formed but 10 per cent of
 he sugar consumption of the United
 States In 1916 1t was l .642 900 900, or
 nearly % per cent Of the consumpti
 The present reports as to the number
 5f factories likely to be available in
 he coming season suggest a still fur
 her increase in the percentage which
 sur domestic beet fields will supply of
 .hs sugar consumption of the United
 States.
 The growth of the beet sugar indus
 TT in the United States has been ex-
 .renfely rapid. The capital of the beet
 sugar factories is shown by census re-
 ports at s20, ,142, 0G0 in 1899, and $142,-- tS1. GOD in 1914, and seems likely to reach the s2o0. 900. 900 line in 1917, since the number of factories operated
 m 1915 was g per cent greater than
 n 1914. and this larger total is again
 70 be increased by Is new factories
 1oE under construction. The total
 value of the beet sugar output which
 WAS. according to the census $7,234000
 ID 1899. and s62, 605, 900 in 1914 seems rom the best available statistics to nave approximated s10O, 900. 900 in ts1s- Should the rate of production
 increase in proportion to the growth n number and capacity of sugar mills t is not improbable that the beet fields may produce 25 per cent of the con- Eumption Of 1917 against 20 per cent
 n 1e16, and 10 per cent in 1905. This sstimate as to the higher percentage which beet sugar may form Of the consumption of 1917 is based in part lpon the assumption that the quantity consumed will. as a result of high prices, show a fall when compared with years in which prices were ma -erially lower The average per capi- a consumption in the United States 1914 with prices at the normal was se pounds per capita, and with the ad- vance in prices, fell to s6 pounds per capita in 1915, and 77 pounds per cap la in 1916.
 The events of the war have ad- Taneed the rank of the United States among the worlds beet sugar pro- iucers- Prior to the war, beets pro- 1uced about one-haIf of the sugar supply of the world, but the rank of he United States which had but re- >entiy become a producer Of beet su- gar, was extremely low With the events of the war, the output of beet sugar produced in Europe has fallen nearly one-haif, the estimated output of the 1916-7 crop year being but I514. 900 tons against S,341,0oo Ln the -rop year 1912-13. The crop of Ger many for 1916-17 is estimated at l. eo.Ooo tons. Russia 1.25o000 Austria 945. 900, Holland 270, ,000 France 1855 900 and Belgium 1O0 900, while the beet Eugar production of the United States n the corp year 1916-11 is now esti- mated at 735.00o tons. thus giving the United States fourth rank at present Imong the worlds producers of beet sugar
 The per capita consumption of the principal countries of the world has 3een greatly disarranged by the war. The consumption in the year imn1edi- ttely preceding the war Is estimated It s9 pounds per capita in the United States, 90 pounds per capita in Eng and. 75 pounds in Germany and 93 pounds per capita in Denmark. No figures are of course obtairable to present per ca pita consumption in the ] countries at war, but the reduction is 1 presumably much greater than in the l ,ass Of the United States, in which, as fhown above, the consumption has ,slen from s9 pounds per capita in l 1914 to T pounds per capita in 1916, | his fall of nearly 14 per cent presum- 1 ably due to higher prices, while pres | .nt indica tions are that the per capi- l a consumption will be still less than i hat of 1916.
 The great reduction in beet sugar | production in Europe has resulted in | arEe exportatiOns of sugar from the | United States to Europe, though this | lss been entirely in cane sugar, ,hiefIy that imported from Cuba, re- 1 ined in American factories. and then .xported to the countries at war, es- oecially to Great Britain and France. The total exportation in the calendar 1 rear 1e1s was 1.577,0o 900 pounds gainst e63. .57 1000 in 1915, 39o, ,409 900 n 1914, and 51,7T2. 900 in 1913. The 'slue of the refined sugar exports rom the United States in 1916 was e0,s7s.000, in 1915 s42. .762, 900, in 1914 1s.23S.o0o. and in 1913 s1 STA 900, hay ng thus been in 1916 nearly 50 times s much as in 1913, while the quantity 1 Tas approximat tely 30 times as much.