Overview
The U.S. sweetener market is the largest and most diverse
in the world. The United States is the largest consumer
of sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrup, and
is one of the largest global sugar importers. The United
States ranks among the top sugar producers, and is one
of the few countries with significant production of both
sugarbeets and sugarcane.
ERS analysts track U.S. and international sugar and sweetener
production, consumption, and trade. They also monitor
and analyze U.S. sweetener policy and events that affect
the domestic, Mexican, and other international sweetener
markets.
Features
Global Biofuels Market Boosts Sugar Ethanol Industry in Latin America (May 2008, page 41 of PDF) reports that several countries in Latin America, besides Brazil, have policies and programs to expand production of liquid biofuels from biomass in the coming decades. This article analyzes developments that aim to reduce dependence on imported transportation fuels and to reduce poverty by engaging farmers in growing ethanol-producing crops.
Sugar
Backgrounder (July 2007)
addresses key domestic and international market and policy
developments that have affected the U.S. sugar sector
in recent years. It provides descriptions and analyses
of farm-level production of U.S. sugar crops, cane and
beet sugar processing and refining industries, sugar imports
and exports, and sugar consumption.
Recommended Readings
Sugar
and Sweeteners Outlook (January,
May, and September) provide an update of current market
and policy developments and their impacts on the sugar
and corn sweetener industries.
The EU Sugar Policy Regime and Implications of Reform (July 2008) examines European Union’s sugar policy, which underwent its first major reform in 2005 in response to mounting and unsustainable imbalances in supply and demand. The reform targeted only a few policy instruments (intervention price cut, voluntary production quota buyout, and restrictions on nonquota sugar exports), while leaving other key policies unchanged (interstate quota trading, sugar-substitute competition, and import barriers). A model-based analysis suggests that the initial reforms by themselves are unlikely to reduce overproduction due to the oligopolistic nature of the EU sugar market.
Western Hemisphere Sugar (May 2008, page 22 of PDF) analyzes the sugar industries of leading sugar-producing countries in the Western Hemisphere. This article highlights recent developments and trends in production, consumption, trade, and policy in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Peru.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Sugar and Sweeteners Yearbook tables
contain the latest data and historical information on
the production, use, prices, imports, and exports of sugar
and sweeteners.
Tropical
Products: World Markets and Trade, published biannually
by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, contains data
on global sugar production, consumption, and prices.
Historical
Sweetener Marketing Data from USDA's Farm Service
Agency contains statistics on U.S. sugar production,
deliveries,
trade,
and stocks.
U.S.
Sugar Statistical Compendium provides historical data
(1970-90) on U.S. sugar production and consumption, imports
and exports, and prices. Regional and state data are included.
Tables are in Lotus 123 (*.wk1) spreadsheet files.
U.S.
Corn Sweetener Statistical Compendium provides historical
data (1970-92) on U.S. corn sweetener supply and use (high
fructose corn syrup, dextrose, and glucose), imports and
exports, and prices. Tables are in Lotus 123 (*.wk1) spreadsheet
files.
Related Briefing Rooms
USDA Agricultural Baseline
Projections
U.S. Agricultural Trade
Farm and Commodity Policy
Farm Income and Costs
Diet Quality and Food Consumption
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Related Links
Links to other sites with economic
information about sugar and sweeteners.
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