Evening star., 1924-01-30
BIG SUGAR SUPPLY
|SNOW ASSURED
/
Prices During Year Depend
on Home Buying, Weather
and Conditions Abroad.
BY J. G. BOYLE.
ispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 30.-The
sweet tooth of the American people
probably will not go untitled during
the current year Preliminary ind,-
cations point to an adequate supply
OF sugar, according to the expert
statisticians of the trade, but no one
has undertaken to determine just
what course the consuming puDlic
will follow Whether the supply is
adequate and whether the price Will
move within narrow ranges depend
upon the purchases of the American
housewife as we'll as upon weather
and other conditions here and abroad
The experts of the Federal Sugar
Refining Company estimate that
there will be an excess supply of
425.OOO tons available for this &C un
try in 1924. This estimate, however.
is based on a consumption equal to
that of 1928 Distribution of sugar
last year did not increase at the
same rate which prevailed from 1918
to 1922. But the total amount con-
sumed did rise above the 1922 level
There is every. reason to believe that
u normal increase will be shown in
1924, since the addition to population
would account for a considerable ton
mage even if the individual citizens
bought no more than last year.
Increased supply Expected.
The total distribution of sugar in the
United States in 1923 was 4.iso.6Si
tons. But consumption was sharply
curtailed by the spectacular rise In
price of sugar early in the year. OF
the amount bought last year. the fed
Sral experts credit 1.096,531 tons to
= l,,., ION md
3,6S5,153 tons to supplies from insular
possessions, Cuba and other foreign
countries. They base their estimate
of a 425,000-ton surplus this year on
anticipation that shipments from Cuba
and other foreign countries, Hawaii.
the Philippines, Porto Rico and the
Virgin Islands. will aggregate 4,110.600
tons of refined sugar Taking the do
meStic beet and cane production OF
1923 as basis for the 1924 supply.
this would insure a surplus over 1928
requirements of 425,441 tons. How
ever. 1t is extremely likely that the
domestic beet and cane crops this year
will be well in excess of those of last
year, as well as that consumption Will
be at a heavier rate than in 1923.
Beet Growers Prosperous.
Beet sugar manufacturers and
growers have just ended most
prosperous year. Steps already are
being taken to cultivate much
larger acreage to sugar beetS the
coming season. The Louisiana cane
producers also sold their products at
a satisfactory figure and there is
small doubt that with normal wealth
er conditions the domestic sugar pro-
duction will show an increase.
Weather in Cuba recently has been
favorable and there are at present
between $50 and 10 mills grinding
cane. Early forecasts by some ex-
perts of the Cuban 1924 output place
It somewhat above S.SOo,0oo tons.
Predictions of the European sugar
beet production for the season of
192324 range around 4.9S0,000 tons,
or approximately 42S.03S tons more
than for last season. Germany'S crop
is expected to reach only 1,125,O0O
tons The most important increase
is in CzechosIovakia, where an out
put of 100000 tons is anticipated, as
compared with 726,472 tons last year.
supply to Fix Prices.
The above facts. according to men
i'll the sugar trade, will have a far
greater bearing on the price and con-
sumption of sugar in the country in
the next year than any enforcement
of rules or regulations for the con-
duct of sugar exchanges such as were
asked in the suit of the Department
of Justice against the New York
Coffee and Sugar Exchange and de-
MED by the United States Supreme
Court. The suit asked for the regu-
lation of exchange operations against
possibility of artificial price control
The incursionS of the western beet
sugar manufacturers made such rapid
fnroads into eastern markets last fall
that II is regarded as likely that fur
ther efforts to capture the trade of
the eastern seaboard will be made
beginning next October when the out
put of the western factories becomes
availa BILE.