Sugar consumption worldwide is forecast at a record 173 million tonnes this marketing year, the first time that usage has exceeded production since 2009/10, says the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Record consumption will draw down the global stockpile to 40 million tonnes, the equivalent of a three-month supply. Going into this trade year, global supplies were large enough to meet 15 weeks of demand for the sweetener.
World sugar production peaked at nearly 178 million tonnes in 2012/13 and has been on the decline since. In Brazil, the No. 1 sugar grower, production is expected to fall by nearly 1 million tonnes this year as more sugarcane is diverted to ethanol production, says the USDA. Recession has reduced food sales in Brazil and, as a result, reduced the demand for sugar for human consumption. Meanwhile, sugar consumption in India, the world’s largest market and the second-largest producer, is forecast for a record high of 28 million tonnes.