Sugar: Overview
From the sugar bowl to the petrol tank
What this tab covers What the commodity is used for, why, in what volumes and with what alternatives, and its chain from mine or field to end user. Also the latest price moves, top recent news, three things to know, and buttons into each tab.Key uses
| Use | Share | Annual volume | Why this commodity | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial food and drink: soft drinks, confectionery, bakery, dairy, sweets and processed food | n/a | part of world consumption of 180.1 Mt (2025/26)basis | Sucrose gives sweetness, bulk, texture, browning and preservation in one cheap ingredient. Cane and beet sugar is the reference sweetener in most of the world because it is easy to store and ship, and food law and recipes are built around it. ISO quarterly market outlook, February 2026 (as reported by CropGPT, 9 March 2026) | High-fructose corn syrup (US, Mexico) Glucose syrups from maize, wheat or cassava High-intensity sweeteners (sucralose, aspartame, stevia) Jaggery and khandsari (India) |
| Household table sugar and home cooking | n/a | India alone consumes about 28.5 Mt a year across household and bulk usebasis | In India and many emerging markets households buy loose or packaged white sugar for tea, sweets and festivals. Governments treat it as an essential item, which is why India controls monthly mill releases and export quotas. ISMA first advance estimate 2025-26 (The Week/PTI, 4 Nov 2025; Deccan Herald, 10 Nov 2025) | Jaggery (gur) Honey Sweeteners |
| Fuel ethanol from cane juice, syrup and molasses | n/a | India diverted 3.4 Mt of sugar to ethanol in 2025-26, about 9.9% of its gross output (3.5 Mt in 2024-25)basis | Brazil's mills can switch cane between sugar and ethanol each season, and India pays administered ethanol prices (Rs 65.61/litre for juice-based ethanol in 2025) to reach its 20% blending goal, reached in 2025. This ties sugar supply to crude oil and fuel policy. ISMA first advance estimate 2025-26 (The Week/PTI, 4 Nov 2025; Deccan Herald, 10 Nov 2025); Food Business MEA, 2 Sept 2025; Tribune, July 2025 | Grain ethanol from maize and FCI rice (India, US) Petrol Electric vehicles over the long run |
| By-products: bagasse for power and paper, molasses for alcohol, yeast and feed, press mud for fertiliser | n/a | n/a basis | Every mill burns its own bagasse to make steam and power, and many export surplus electricity. Molasses supports potable alcohol, industrial alcohol and ethanol. These streams often decide whether a mill is profitable. general industry practice; volumes not found | Coal and grid power Grain-based alcohol |
From field to user
- Cane planting or beet sowing Cane is a tropical grass planted once and ratooned for several years; India had 57.35 lakh ha under cane in 2025-26. Beet is a temperate root crop sown each spring.
- Harvest and haul to the mill Cane must be crushed within about a day of cutting, so mills sit in the cane belt. FAOSTAT counts 1.94 billion t of cane and 294 Mt of beet in 2024.
- Crushing or diffusion Cane is crushed to extract juice; beet is sliced and the sugar diffused out with hot water. India crushed 286.5 Mt of cane to mid-April 2026 at 9.56% sugar recovery.
- Clarifying, evaporating and crystallising Juice is cleaned, boiled down and crystallised into raw sugar (VHP in Brazil) or plantation white sugar (most Indian mills).
- Diversion to ethanol Juice, syrup or B-heavy molasses can go to distilleries instead. India diverted 3.4 Mt of sugar equivalent in 2025-26; industry ethanol capacity is 853 crore litres a year.
- Refining and export Raw sugar is shipped to destination refineries (Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Morocco, the Middle East) and refined to white sugar. Brazil supplied 51.4% of world sugar export value in 2024 (UN Comtrade).
- Wholesale and end users Bulk buyers (soft drinks, confectionery, sweets) and households. In India, the Food Ministry sets a monthly sale quota for each mill.
Price movement snapshot 2026-10-25
ICE raw sugar No. 11 futures 20.2 US cents/lb Close 2026-10-23 · Yahoo Finance 1 week -2.9% 6 months +46.3% World production 1.94 bn tonnes, 2024 Largest producer Brazil 39.16% of worldThree things to know
- Cuba's sugar output more than halved, from 8 Mt in 1989-90 to 3.3 Mt in 1994-95, after Soviet support ended.
- Brazil grew 39% of the world's sugar cane in 2024, more than India and China combined (FAOSTAT).
- In real 2010 dollars the 2025 world sugar price ($0.32/kg) was well below the 2011 level ($0.52/kg).
Top recent news snapshot 2026-10-25, last 30 days
- India sugar production view slashed as El Nino hits, USDA saysReuters · 2026-10-08
- Bitter truth: Surge in sugar prices to push up festival budgetsThe Economic Times · 2026-10-14
- Sugar prices: A pause for solutionsDeccan Herald · 2026-10-22
- Festive demand, tight supply push sugar prices up to 17% in six daysMoneycontrol.com · 2026-10-14
- Sugar prices rise on lower output concerns; ethanol policy puts mills in focusCNBC TV18 · 2026-10-19