Some mechanized equipment moved from the south of Las Tunas to support the sugar harvest

Mechanized forces from the southern zone arrived on March 8 in the center and north of Las Tunas province, intending to support the sugar harvest in the Antonio Guiteras and Majibacoa sugar companies.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- This maneuver took place less than 24 hours after the “Colombia” had turned off its engines and when the dispute harvest is in full swing in the aforementioned entities, with abundant raw material to be processed and a high concentration of sucrose in sugarcane juices, a favorable situation for the industrial performance to reach its maximum potential.

This reinforcement, which includes seven KTP and CASE combined cutting machines, 34 trucks, two locomotives, 45 cage cars, hoppers, and honey tanks, will bring positive effects, not only for the "Antonio Guiteras", the "Majibacoa," and the province; but also for the national economy.

Rafael Pantaleón Quevedo, at the head of the Azcuba Group in the Balcón de Oriente (Cuban Eastern Balcony), explained that, of the mobilized equipment, Majibacoa received 15 trucks and three KTP-2M combined machines; a contribution with which they hope to stabilize average mills above 66 percent, the necessary rate to reach April 30 with all the raw material converted into sugar.

The Antonio Guiteras Company welcomed the operators of four combined machines, 19 trucks, and rail transport, who arrived from the municipality of Amancio.
With such support, the entity belonging to Puerto Padre can increase the transfer of raw material from the Argelia Libre base business unit (UEB) to the industry, as well as open the Santa Teresa collection center, and improve the cage car service to the remaining units of its type.

Thus, the “Cuban Sugar Colossus” is in a position to take advantage of 70 percent of its potential milling capacity, an unavoidable cadence to prevent its harvest from extending beyond May.

The current strategy also includes maintaining cane harvesting in the southern region, for processing in the Majibacoa sugar mill; a whole productive linkage based on continue gaining ground. As a matter of fact, the province has already discounted eight percent of the accumulated delay in sugar production.

These and other data provided by Pantaleón Quevedo on the amount of raw material to be harvested and the possible increase in milling and industrial output suggest that the territory could add to the 40,000 tons of sugar produced to date another similar amount in what remains of the season.

It is not what is foreseen in the plan; but, if the final amount is around 80 thousand tons of sugar, then the performance of Las Tunas in the 2021-2022 harvest could be evaluated as decorous, especially taking into account the significant weakening that the lack of resources caused to the mechanized harvest from the beginning until a few days ago, when the situation improved with the entry of tires and batteries.