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The Corozal Sugar Factory began operating in 1937 in Pembroke Hall, Belize (present day Libertad). Today the factory is abandoned, but delayed plans to repair it and add a new distillery for ethanol production have been underway since 2007.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/belize/belize.php?news_id=4381&start=360&category_id=27 )〕 == History == Sugar production in Belize grew in the mid-1800s as Yucatán immigrants fled the Caste War and began cultivating sugarcane in British Honduras. British interest in exporting sugar led to the development of large plantations in the Corozal and Orange Walk regions. Sugar production peaked in the 1880s with 2.5 million pounds being exported, then decreasing to 200,000 pounds by the 1890s.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://ambergriscaye.com/photogallery/140218.html )〕 With declining colonial sugar exports worrying the British government, the Corozal Sugar Factory was built in Pembroke Hall by Henry Melhado & Sons〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://ngcbelize.org/content/view/60/190/ )〕 and marked the beginning of the country's modern sugar industry in 1937. However, factory output was stunted and it took 16 years to hit the goal of exporting 2,500 tons of sugar. The following year in 1954, the factory was fully operational and 7,357 tons of sugar were exported; a little over half the output of the 122 small producers in nearby villages. 25% of these small producers worked in San Narciso, 5 miles west of the Corozal Sugar Factory.〔 In 1967, British corporation Tate & Lyle purchased the factory, expanded it, and opened a second factory in Tower Hill near Orange Walk. With these investments, sugarcane became a booming industry for Belize and the standard of living in the Corozal and Orange Walk region improved.〔 A 1975 Tate & Lyle 'Annual Visit' document reveals some of the challenges the plant faced in maintaining high production at the peak of world sugar prices in the 1970s: * An additional sugarcane grab was ordered to move and bundle the cane within the factory. The 1 hydraulically operated grab couldn't keep up with the number of trucks arriving each day to deliver sugarcane. * Export sugar quality incurred substantial penalties for failing to meet American refiners' quality standards. Moisture, Color, Ash, and Grain Size penalties totaled £9,050 in 1973(41,650 tons shipped) and £28,000 in 1974(46,200 tons shipped). The plant consultants, J.D. Blanchard and R.R. Trott, suggested handling the sugar in barges and sometimes storing it in Belize City contributed to the low quality. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Corozal Sugar Factory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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