GAF
Coal export and profit increase in Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba, Jun 24.— The coal beneficiation center of the Santiago
municipality of Contramaestre assumes the sale of the product for export and
national consumption, with a logistics system that ensures the quality and
control of the line, highly demanded in the market. European.
Roberto Hardy, head of that unit at the Empresa de
Cítricos América Libre, reported that they continued the work in the middle of
COVID-19 and with the measures established to comply with the shipments agreed
through Cítricos Caribe S.A. and by the Guillermón Moncada port of this city,
with the Victoria de Girón agro-industrial hub.
Of the 10 containers with a volume of more than 20
tons (t), expected for the current June, seven have been shipped and four are
ready for foreign commercialization, Hardy said.
The increase in exports was due to the increase in
producers -of 14 men now there are 28-, dedicated to making fuel from marabou,
aroma and guatapaná; the rest of the woods they process are destined for
Education, Public Health and food processing in the so-called Polygons in
Revolution.
Although they faced difficulties with containers
and bags to collect in the field, they looked for alternatives with the
companies of Raw Material and AzCuba of the territory to fulfill the
commitments, due to the importance that this activity has for the country's
economy.
Hardy explained that a specialized brigade selects
the product and passes it to the beneficiation plant, in search of the
appropriate size for quality A and B, then they package it in 12 and 15
kilogram polylayer paper sacks and three-sachets, according with the client's
requirements, which are, among others, a blue flame, smokeless and ashless.
The work force, mostly young, carries out careful
work in an immense warehouse where the raw material accumulates to avoid
increasing costs, difficulties in purchasing from the coal miners and causing
them losses.
The workers who almost made their debut as such
due to their age, between the ages of 21 and 30, told the Cuban News Agency
that each container that leaves the profit center is a joy because they know
what it means to export, and it also provides a high remuneration in national
currency and foreign currency that improves their quality of life and that of
their families.
According to specialists from the Ministry of
Agriculture, Cuba has become one of the main producers and exporters of
charcoal in the world, with preference in Portugal and Spain and the Middle
East.
Currently, Europe demands more than 30 thousand
tons a year, when the price of one tonne is $ 300.
