Brazilian company to manage Cuba sugar mill
HAVANA (AP) — Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht says it is signing a contract this week to manage a sugar mill in Cuba, as the Caribbean island nation overhauls a once-iconic industry that has since fallen on hard times.
A statement from Odebrecht says the deal will be signed Friday and run for 13 years governing the administration of the September 5 mill in Cienfuegos province.
Odebrecht said Thursday the aim is to boost capacity from around 30,000 tons to 90,000 tons per harvest.
Cuban President Raul Castro's government is in the process of decentralizing the sugar industry in hopes of reversing a long decline.
The contract is the first of its kind signed between a foreign firm and Cuba's Azcuba, a largely autonomous state-run company that replaced the Sugar Ministry in late 2011
