World news

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...

Egypt's Canal Sugar plans to build the biggest in the world beet sugar factory. It is reported by Reuters. Egypt’s Canal Sugar said on Sunday it had signed a financing agreement worth a total of $169 million with a consortium of six banks. The funds, which consist of...

The International Sugar Organization on Thursday forecasted there would be a global sugar surplus of 641,000 tonnes in the 2018/19 season, down from a previous forecast of 2,17 million tonnes. It is reported by MoneyControl. The inter-governmental body, in a quarterly report, said the smaller surplus was mainly due to diminished outlooks for production in Brazil and the European Union wh...

Rising gasoline prices in Brazil and improved economic prospects in 2019 are boosting the outlook for ethanol sales and mills may once again skew toward the biofuel and away from sugar as the new cane crop approaches. It is reported by Reuters. Ethanol remains more attractive at present and mills will likely heavily favor production of the biofuel as the 2019/20 cane harvest begins in the center-south region in...

A drop in Indian harvest for a second year will potentially cut overseas shipments and support global prices that fell 21 percent in 2018. It is reported by Business Standard. Sugar output in India, which vies with Brazil as the world’s top producer, will likely drop to a three-year low next season as dry weather in some ma...

World sugar prices are forecast to rise this year with the market swinging into deficit in the 2019/20 season, a Reuters survey of 10 analysts and traders showed on Monday. It is reported by Reuters. Raw sugar prices were expected to end the year at 14.60 cents per lb, up 15 percent from Friday’s close, according to the median forecast of responses. The world...