USDA raises sugar supply projections for 2016-17

The US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday upped its forecast for domestic sugar supplies in the 2016/17 crop year amid record beet production and slightly higher imports. The agency pegged the closely watched US sugar stocks/use ratio at 14.4, up from a projection of 13.5 last month, for the 2016/17 crop year that began on October 1.
The forecast comes as beet sugar inventories remain swollen at historically high levels and pressure mounts on the US government to try to rework a trade pact with Mexico over the sweetener that US companies have said is throwing the US market out of balance. The US government is required to try to maintain the sugar stocks-to-use ratio at 13.5. Total US sugar production is pegged at 9.4 million tons (8.6 million tonnes), up 155,000 tons from September's outlook, the USDA said.