HAVANA: Cuba's sugar harvest fell further behind schedule over the last month, but the country met its export contracts, an industry spokesman said Monday.
"The harvest is behind schedule by more than twenty days up to now," Liobel Perez, head of analysis and control of AZCUBA, the state-run sugar holding company, told state-run media.
The local media reported on March 16 that the harvest was 13 days, or 106,000 tonnes, behind schedule.
Perez gave no reason for the shortfall, but said there was enough cane to meet this year's plan, estimated by Reuters at 1.45 million tonnes of raw sugar, and that to date export contracts had been met.
Perez said 44 of the 46 mills grinding this year remained open.
AZCUBA said when the harvest began in January that it would end by May when hot and humid weather makes harvesting more costly and difficult and cane yields drop.
However, to date just one of 13 sugar-producing provinces has met their target, and the majority will have to continue grinding next month, weather permitting.
Reuters estimates output to date a around 1 million tonnes, with six provinces reporting they have surpassed the 100,000-tonne mark.
The harvest has suffered from mill and harvesting equipment breakdowns, poor management and unusually wet weather in the eastern part of the country, according to media reports.
Mills have operated at less than 70 percent capacity, compared with the plan of 80 percent.
The Sugar Ministry was closed late last year and replaced by the state-run holding company. The industry hopes to reverse a long decline in output from 8 million tonnes in 1990 to 1.2 million tonnes last year.
Cuba consumes 600,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes of sugar annually and has a 400,000-tonne toll agreement with China. Cuban sugar is also sold for export on the spot market.
Cuba has not imported sugar for a number of years.