Problems in the British West Indian Sugar

Industry

From 1825 1838

-Soil exhaustion
-Competition from newly acquired British
territories such as Mauritius and India. They
used free labour and was able to give the West
Indian colonies competition. They too enjoyed
low rate of duties on sugar being newly
acquired British colonies.
-Natural disasters
-Revolts

1838 to 1850s

Soil exhaustion
Natural disasters
Bad roads
Sugar Equalisation Act / Sugar Duties Act 1846
Labour (Emancipation)
Backwardnesss of Planters ( lack of modernization)
Use of labour intensive method
Lack of capital ( hardly any investors) Banks and lending houses
did not want to use estates as security for loans, example the
Planter Bank of Jamaica and the Bank of British Guiana
Increasing cost of production( absentee planters left estates in
the hands of attorney who mismanaged it) labourers had to be
paid wages now slavery was abolished

 Increasing debts
Planters had borrowed extensively from British merchants and were
unable to repay their loans because of low profits. Many continued
to borrow to revive their plantation.
Competition from Cuba and Brazil
The Navigation Acts
Duties placed on refined sugar
Low quality sugar
Refusal of some planters to get out of sugar production thinking that
things would get better
No professional advice and assistance
Low wages
Prices remained low
Crash of financial houses 9 Gillespie Brothers and the West India
Bank
The old marketing system ( drained funds)dependence on imported
goods. The prices of these goods wer increased significantly

Measures adopted to deal with the

problems and effectiveness
Mechanization / Science and industrial technology
Steam mills, vacuum pans, centrifugal dryer
Introduction of new variety of canes that were
stronger and had more sucrose content
Proper drainage, irrigation schemes, the use of steam
plough and harrow, different types of fertilizers
Double and triple crushing mills
The use of steam power ( mills)
Employment of Botanists
Central factories

 Technical advice
Departments of Agriculture were set up. They gave advice
and assistance in how to increase production.
Amalgamation of estates
This allowed better use of factory equipment, better
management, shared marketing facilities and available
labour.
Available fertile lands were put under cultivation.
Attempts to establish newer market were made. Some
planters turned to the USA for prices were better and
transport cost was lower.
The building of roads bridges and dams, sea defences
Improved means of transportations ( tram ways and rail
ways) improved wharf and shipping facilities

 Markets
Removal of the bounty on European beet let to increased
market in Europe for W I sugar.
Access to Canadian and USA markets due to increased demands
More favourable prices for sugar
Greater demand for by product example rum and molasses.
All of the above encouraged optimism and facilitated greater
confidence in the industry.
Capital
More export earnings
Increased investments
Credit, technology and access to loans.
All of the above encourage greater level of mechanization and
reduction in production cost

 Labour
More reliable and increased supplies of labour esp to Guiana and
Trinidad.
System of re indenture ship, no labour problems in Barbados, St.
Kitts and Antigua
Land settlement schemes instead of return passage. On the
Plantation of Huist Dieren, labourers were encouraged to continue
estates work while engaging in cultivation of rice and cash crop.

Immigration permitted the extension of cultivation. Estates in

Trinidad and Guyana increased their acreage under cultivation.
They became prosperous thus being able to introduce new and
improved methods of cultivation and production on a large scale.

1850s - 1900
Beet sugar competition
All of the problems already
mentioned.