5427: sugar production (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: daavid@lyalls.net

I usually enjoy Mozebs posts, but these views on the sugar
production industry are completely separated from reality.

Sugar production might be an ( shudder ) export crop?
The Horror of being able to pay for petrol!

Sugar production is labor intensive and we need the labor
freed up for other uses than cutting cane?

Most of the sugar in the marketplace seems to be
from Mexico, so haitian production has a long way
to go before risking the international market place.
How about haitian sugar being available in haitian
markets?

I am sure that tens of thousands of workers would not
enjoy being forced from their current lucrative jobs
as info technologists into cutting cane, perhaps
poor Surinamese peasants could come to haiti to help out?

Last, it is difficult to understand, short of terminal
defeatism, why a haitian sugar industry could not possibly
be competitive with imported mexican and dominican sugar.
You cut cane, crush it for juice, and cook it. Right?
Am I missing something here? Its not rocket science.

>Now reviving the sugar industry in Ayiti would further 
> accentuate Ayiti penchant to it.

>As a result it would suck up much of 
> the labor force needed elsewhere in the economy. That would inhibit the 
> development of other sectors; .
> 
> The other drawback: the proceeds from the international market would not be 
> sufficient to cover the excessive costs of production and would leave Ayiti 
> with a net loss. The price volatility on the international market is a result 
> of heavy competition and other sugar production alternatives.
>