Cuba’s Sugar Industry Headed Toward Worst Season Ever

The Cuban sugar industry is barreling again toward its worst season ever, according to official media reports and sources, threatening to dent both national pride and economic growth.

The 2022 harvest is set to fall well short of last year’s record low, according to official data and two local sugar experts. It is currently running at least 30% shy of the communist-run government’s goal of 900,000 tonnes.

Sugar was once the pride of Cuba, critical to its rum production and driving foreign exchange and employment in the island’s vast countryside.

The harvest usually begins in November and runs into May, but this year most mills opened in December and early January due to a lack of spare parts and cane.

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