The private sugar mills have replaced the Consejo Estatal del Azucar (CEA) as the major exporter of sugar to the U.S. market from the Dominican Republic. While in 1994 the CEA exported some 129,000 tons, Central Romana, the largest private sugar factory in the country, exported 198,970 tons. As a result, the contribution to the country’s foreign exchange reserves by the state sugar mills have decreased significantly over the last few years.
Since 1987, the state corporation has been going through extremely difficult times because of its failure to diversify and better plan its production operations. Due to the company’s present financial difficulties, the industry’s observers believe the company’s situation could take a turn for the worse this year, with 1996 ending up as the nadir in the company’s history.