Cuba’s toilet paper supply wiped out by hurricanes, economic crisis

Thanks to the global econ crash and three hurricanes that disrupted imports, Cuba’s toilet paper supply is running disastrously low. This has led to increased demand for old newspapers and magazines, according to the Miami Herald:

Toilet paper is not included in the ration card that covers basic goods at highly subsidized prices, so Cubans have long been forced to buy their supplies at so-called “hard currency stores” or use alternatives — Chinese and North Korean magazines have been a favorite because of their soft paper.

On Tuesday, a pack of four Cuban-manufactured toilet paper rolls was selling in Havana stores for the equivalent of about 28 pesos, or about two days’ salary for the average worker.

“Right now almost all the stores are out of it, and it’s a miracle that I found it,” said a Havana retiree, who asked for anonymity to avoid problems with authorities, in a telephone interview from Miami.

Cuban officials quoted earlier this month in the official Radio Rebelde predicted “an important importation of toilet paper” by the end of the year “to supply this demand that today is presenting problems.”

The Productos Sanitarios Proa factory in Matanzas province also produces toilet paper, branded “hygienic and ecological.” Many Cuban factories have suffered from shortages of imported raw materials and government-forced closings to save on electricity.

But the government-imposed closings of factories and offices to save on electricity may ironically also be helping to resolve the toilet paper shortage, according to the Havana retiree.

Many copies of Granma and other newspapers sent to distribution points for later delivery to factories and offices are not being picked up when the intended recipients are closed, the retiree said, and are being sold to anyone else.

Lots of retirees, he added, are hitting pre-dawn lines at those distribution points to buy 10-15 copies of both daily and older versions of the newspapers for bathroom use, wrapping garbage and other household uses.

The retirees pay 20 Cuban cents per copy — about .007 U.S. cents — and re-sell it to neighbors for up to 20 Cuban pesos, or about 71 U.S. cents.

The price of 20 Cuban cents per copy is the same for the day’s edition and old copies, the retiree said, “because they all have the same use.’”

Cuba faces toilet paper shortage – Americas – MiamiHerald.com.