One of the key issues that faces Cuban policymakers today, and will continue to face them, is what steps to take in order to ensure the future of the sugar industry. In 2002, nearly one-half of the country's cultivated land was occupied by the 156 fully functional sugar mills, more than a dozen plants and refineries, and the complex transportation infrastructure brought about by the commerce. The loss of preferential markets for Cuban sugar that arose from the demise of the international socialist community constitutes a crisis that the Cuban government has only begun to address, with a radical restructuring plan that would foresee the reduction of sugar land and the elimination of about 100,000 jobs, for increased economic emphasis on tourism. The radical premise of this volume is that there is a future in the twenty-first century for a reinvented Cuban sugar agroindustry, responsive to market signals, organized around smaller and more agile production units, producing raw sugar as well as high value-added outputs, and using some of the facilities to produce ethanol and generate electricity. The editors have asked over a dozen recognized world experts on Cuban agroindustry to analyze specific topics and make recommendations that would not only reinvent an industry for effective transition to a free-market environment but that has the potential to reinvigorate the Cuban economy, providing employment opportunities and generating wealth for generations of Cubans to come.

One of the key issues that faces Cuban policymakers today, and will continue to face them, is what steps to take in order to ensure the future of the sugar industry. In 2002, nearly one-half of the country's cultivated land was occupied by the 156 fully functional sugar mills, more than a dozen plants and refineries, and the complex transportation infrastructure brought about by the commerce. The loss of preferential markets for Cuban sugar that arose from the demise of the international socialist community constitutes a crisis that the Cuban government has only begun to address, with a radical restructuring plan that would foresee the reduction of sugar land and the elimination of about 100,000 jobs, for increased economic emphasis on tourism. The radical premise of this volume is that there is a future in the twenty-first century for a reinvented Cuban sugar agroindustry, responsive to market signals, organized around smaller and more agile production units, producing raw sugar as well as high value-added outputs, and using some of the facilities to produce ethanol and generate electricity. The editors have asked over a dozen recognized world experts on Cuban agroindustry to analyze specific topics and make recommendations that would not only reinvent an industry for effective transition to a free-market environment but that has the potential to reinvigorate the Cuban economy, providing employment opportunities and generating wealth for generations of Cubans to come.

Since the first book published by Woodhead on the global sugar business (The international sugar trade) was released in 1996, the world sugar market has undergone fundamental change. Over the past decade the industry s key economic and policy drivers have created a new regional distribution of sugar production that has had an enormous impact on the price finding process as well as changing the type of sugar on offer to the world market. Brazil has become a dominant supplier whilst Cuba s production has collapsed to the pre World War One level; Russia has become the world s greatest importer and structural surpluses have seen stocks rise to historic highs and the world price fall to a level below the production costs of some of the most competitive exporters.
The world sugar market focuses on these changes by identifying, describing and assessing the key industry drivers and their future potential impact on the market. Part one provides an overview - covering the history of sugar production and consumption, cultivation of beet and cane and the current state of the market for sugar and alternative sweeteners. Part two focuses on identifying, describing and assessing the key market drivers, both economic and political, on sugar demand. Part is devoted to a similar analysis of sugar supply, whilst part four covers the future for the sugar markets.
The world sugar market is aimed at a wide audience from the sugar specialist looking for in-depth information on a specific topic to the newcomer needing to gain an overview of the current state-of-play and future for the world sugar market. The book is published in collaboration with the International Sugar Organization whose statistics and studies are used extensively throughout.
Provides a comprehensive overview of this complex and rapidly changing businessWritten by three of the world s leading authorities on the global sugar industry and its economicsIncludes data from the International sugar Organization"