• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 12 / 22 / 2010

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Production of nickel is 6,700 tons below expectations this year, and this year’s sugar harvest is expected to drop below last year’s record-low harvest of 1.1 million tons, Economy Minister Marino Murillo told the national parliament on Saturday.

The lower nickel output, just as prices are recovering, cost the country $120 million, according to Murillo. The bad news comes amid a cash crunch and efforts to focus resources on export-intensive industries.

A Cuban-Canadian nickel joint venture operated by Sherritt International Corp. met expectations. But problems at apparently two state-owned processing plants caused a drop in production. State-owned nickel operations have been under investigation for irregularities this year.

In October, Basic Industries Minister Yadira García, who was in charge of the nickel industry, was dismissed. No successor has been named.

Murillo said a reorganization of the sugar industry will begin after the end of the current harvest, in May.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2010/12/21/nickel-sugar-production-below-expectations/