The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-07-17
Expense'Per Ton In Hawaii Not
M Sofaf Ahead, That'of
Chief competitor
INCREASES HERE NOT AS
GREAT ASlIN CUBAN MILLS,
as a.1sgbodI & ft6IK e10W gpt 80
Freishts, Labor, Equipment and
Fuel Costs Rise Rapidly
In Island Republic

While Hawhiiis cost Of producing
cane sugar Is placed well above Cuba Z
by the department Of commerce expert,
in their recently published report based
on the crop year 1914, interesting
figures received by the last mail shov,
that three years have brought mater
ial change in the situatfon.
NJ Local sugar production costs have
not in the least decreased have
materially increased--but production
costs in Cuba have increased enormous
ly since the federal governments, a
comparative figures We're compiled.
Hawai- Is average outlay per ton OF
8 sugar I. o. b. factory based ON the nor.
NAL crop year 1884 was $44. SOL
only $40 less than Porto Rico a az.
penditure Of 5000 and fifty.four ner
cent higher than Cuba 3 cost Of $685.
Average marketing cost per ton from
factory to maitland refineries stood
Hawaii, 1924; Cuba, $5.46, and Porto
Rico, $4.27 bringing the average cos,
per pound Of sugar delivered IN Tho
States to 1907 cents for the Hawaiian
product, 2.32S cents. for the Porto hi.
can product and l7l9 cents for the
Cuban product, not counting the DUTY.
Different Story Now
Now there is different story TO tell
according TO data on present day con.
ditions published In the June 30 Issue
OF the Louisiana Planter. Cuban pro.
duction costV have SCARED by leaps and
bounds far outdistancing the increases
that Hawaii has had to pay per pound
of sugar produced.
Costs of freights, fuel labor and
equipment to the Cuban producers have
made a steady upward climb during
the last three years, more than donb.
ling the cost of making and marketing
a ton Of Cuban sugar and bringing the
commerce departments average nor
nal figure of 1882 ton production
cost nearer TO $3.50 ~
Were Hawaii;s production cost per
ton carefully figured today, local sugar
men assert, IL would be wen above the
1894 figure Of $44.59 and probably
the present crop year would still And
the industry of the Islands paving mole
per pound for sugar delivered at the
refinery than Cuba Is more than doub.
led cost. But the proportionate m.
crease in cost to Hawaii has been far
Cuba. Gt.E r. X. ~ - = ~
Laborsip Cuba
Cuban labor costs have more than
doubled in the last three years and
4 the increased cost in some sections az
'h" reppblic, has been as high as Ave
hundred per cent, 81
! ine cost OF fuel to Cuban centrals
has leaped upward with almost in.
credible rapidity, advancing over the
high cost of a year ago by not less than
one hundred and fifty per cent. And
the cost of this commodity a year ago
was a big increase over the price in the
two previous years. a'sHaJ Z
Costs of transportation Of the Cuban
product have joined production costs
in their skyward flight and interior
and ocean freights have materially In.
creased. Particularly have ocean
freights advanced, standing now at n
figure four hundred per cent higher
than three years ago and not yet at the
high water mark ,.. :. ~ :,
Factory equipment costs in Cuba,
have risen in like proportion, easily
doubling the figures of 1914, while the
difficulties of delivery have become
problem. a'..,Fa 49,. 1g =.
Heavy Increase In Cost III. x s..
Basing it's deductions on the above
data, but branding them as abnormal
industrial conditions, the Louisiapa
Planter estimates that from the 1911
figure of close to two cents pound
for the bagged product in warehouse
in port, the cost of production of raws
in Cuba has risen to a point where
today the outlay DER pound in no IN
stance. is less than three cents, and An
many cases reaches four cents with the
cost of every item of production still
steadily climbing and the end not vet
in sight. This journal takes Cuba, now
the worlds greatest exporter of sugar.
as fairly illustrating the conditions
that now prevail in the industry
throughout the world. y 4 .
Hawaii More Fortunate AZ h.. IL .
Hawaii, however. though facing the
same industrial situation in its sugar