HAVANA, Feb 18 (NNN-ACN) — Vicente de la O Levy, Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, said that the delays in the delivery of salt for the population’s consumption are due to transportation problems.
In his regular television program Mesa Redonda, he explained that the warehouses are full of salt, but it is difficult for it to reach Cubans due to problems with the low technical condition of the railroad boxes that transport the product.
There is a team of people analyzing how to modify the conditions of the salt mines, with the objective that the trains can enter and load in plates, not in boxes, and thus fill the containers, the minister explained.
Speaking on the television program on the main actions of the Ministry of Energy and Mines in 2023, De la O Levy said that at present they have 14 railroad plates and the aspiration is to reach 100 in operation, in order to move the salt in containers.
We have more than 9,000 tons of salt in the salt mines, he said.
On the other hand, he stated that nickel in 2022 exceeded the export revenues due to the high prices in the world market; however, 5,400 tons were not produced.
He expressed that the effects were due to the instability of inputs and raw materials such as ammonia, problems with diesel for mining equipment and with the quality of fuel oil.
According to the minister, diesel is assured in the coming months and the Cuba-Petroleum Union is working on a fuel treatment in Santiago de Cuba to improve the quality, the results of which are expected to be successful.
We are working not only technically but also commercially, with a view to diversifying products and adding value to nickel with the national industry, he added. — NNN-ACN