Cuba’s most important export industry, nickel production, is on the verge of being unprofitable after a persistent decline in international nickel prices. Nickel has accounted for over half of goods export earnings in recent years, and reserves remain plentiful. Indeed, the Holguin province of Cuba has around 34% of the world’s reserves. But falling prices might force state-run plants to cut back production. Vice President José Machado Ventura explained, “Nickel has declined from $50,000 per tonne to $10,000, to $9,000 and at $9,000 it is no longer profitable, and we have been selling nickel these days at $9,000.”
It is possible that this would push Cuba, a single dominant commodity exporter, to become a service-based exporter, with a special focus on the tourism sector if the U.S. travel ban is lifted. It certainly gives the island a reason to search for alternatives on which to base the economy, and tourism seems to be the area with highest potential for growth and profit.