Ramón Menéndez, vice president for Central Romana, the former Gulf & Western operation, told the Listín Diario last week that the company is now able to produce 120,000 tons of refined sugar, as a result of an expansion of its processing capacity. The company will now be placing an additional 75,000 tons of refined sugar on the local market, filling the gap left by the state sugar refinery which has ceased to operate. Ramón Menéndez says that this year’s sugar crop will be better than last year’s, which was affected by adverse climatic conditions.