World news

In 2019/20, total European sugar production may fall from the 18,1 million tonnes S&P Global Platts has forecast for the 2018/2019 season. It is reported by S&P Global Platts. The French sugar beet planted area will fall to 455,000 hectares for the October 2019-September 2020 season, down 6,2% on the year, the French Agricult...

Brazil’s center-south region produced 26,5 million tonnes of sugar in the 2018/2019 crop, down from 36,06 million tonnes in the prior harvest, cane industry group Unica said on Tuesday. It is reported by Reuters. Mills in the main cane belt in Brazil crushed 573,07 million tonnes of cane versus 596,33 million tonnes and directed more of their production to ethanol instea...

Mills in Brazil’s main center-south cane growing region are predicted to allocate 36 percent of the 2019/20 crop to sugar production, near last season’s estimated record low of 35 percent, Sao Paulo-based Archer Consulting said It is reported by Reuters. While cane crushers continue to show a preference for ethanol, Archer’s figure is below consensus predictions of a sugar allocation of just below 40 percent in a Re...

Rating agency ICRA has revised downwards its sugar production target for 2019 to 30,7 million tonnes from its earlier estimate of 31,5 million tonnes due to a decline in Uttar Pradesh, the largest growing State. It is reported by BusinessLine. The agency, however, said even at this level, sugar supply will be higher than demand. ICRA on Friday said production may be further hit due to the diversion of &...

Brazil’s Raízen Energia SA, the world’s largest sugar maker, raised 900 million reais ($233 million) using Agribusiness Receivables Certificates (CRA), the company’s chief financial officer told on Monday. It is reported by Reuters. Guilherme Cerqueira, the CFO, said the company initially expected to earn 750 million reais from the operation but raised more due to demand, which exceeded expectations...

Farmers in western Europe have begun sugar beet planting, with first indications pointing to a drop in area for the next harvest after a price slump fueled by the end of European Union production quotas. It is reported by Reuters. The market downturn has prompted Europe’s biggest sugar refiner Suedzucker to announce the closure of several factories by 2020, which could lead farmers in affecte...

Rabobank on Wednesday forecast there would be a global sugar deficit of 4,3 million tonnes in 2019/2020 following a small surplus of 1,1 million tonnes in the prior season. It is reported by Reuters. The bank, in a quarterly report, said the deficit was driven partly by projected declines in output in India, Thailand and the European Union. Sugar production in Braz...

South Africa's sugar tax could slash industry revenues and prompt restructuring of the country's sugar sector, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report published on Wednesday. It is reported by Reuters. The tax, introduced last April, has slashed the beverage sector's use of sugar by 30 percent, the USDA attache in Pretoria said, marking a major win for health advoca...

French sugar trader Sucres et Denrees SA, or Sucden, expects a larger deficit in the world’s sugar supply balance in the 2019-20 crop year (October-September), at around 4 million tons, due to projected decreases in output in India, Thailand and the European Union. It is reported by Reuters. Eduardo Sia, a sugar trader for Sucden in Brazil, said that sugar production in Thailand should fall around 10 percent in 2019-20 to 12 million tonnes, as cane farmers sw...

Brazil should seek a tariff-free sugar quota agreement with the United States similar to the tariff-free ethanol quota it offers to U.S. exporters of the biofuel, the new head of Brazil’s powerful cane industry group Unica told. It is reported by Reuters. Evandro Gussi, who took over last month as the head of Brazil’s main sugar and ethanol lobby, said in an interview that if a tariff-free sugar quota was not accepte...