With production outlook brighter for 2025, worldwide sugar prices continued a downward trend late December 2024. 

Leading futures markets highlighted this trend, with sugar #1 losing by -0.93% in New York on December 30.

Likewise, March deliveries for sugar #5 (white sugar) in London futures lost by a similar 0.92% margin, day-on-day.

The New York slide in late December was the bottom-most in the past 3 1/2 months, while London slid by the highest margin in 2 3/4 years.  This is happening despite the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s sugar price index having risen earlier in October 2024 by 2.6%.

Downward trends are also apparent in spot sale charts. Markets Insider reported sugar as trading at $0.19 per pound, a -1.24% daily decrease, at the American Dow Jones on December 31, 2024.

This registers the culmination of a continuing sloping course since December 16 when sales last hugged the $0.20-per-pound mark.

Various factors are urging this pressure on global sugar prices, most of them geographical and administrative. 

Administratively, India,  the number two biggest sugar producer, speculates it could resume exports of the sweetener after a ban.  The country also expects a surplus of around 1 million tonnes in the 2024-25 season, another bearish factor.

But there is hope within India itself since the country’s August 2024 lifting of ethanol production ban could signal less exports, favoring prices.

Across the geographical spectrum, Brazil expects downward production prospects, which could be good for prices. The sugar giant expects to process 46 million tonnes, down from the earlier forecast of 44 million tonnes for the 2024-25 season.

However, Thailand’s surplus could exert further pressure on price.  On October 29, the southeast Asian nation projected its production to soar by 18% to hit 10.35 million tonnes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s projections are also bound to be bearish on pricing. The agency forecasts a 1.5% yearly climb in global sugar reserves for the 2024-25 season.

As a wrap up, the sharp lows in sugar costs in late 2024 could continue due to a bright 2025 outlook. To learn more on the course of worldwide sugar pricing, skim the data below.

Worldwide Sugar Prices Statistics 

International sugar rates have shown a steadiness between 1990 and 2011 before becoming volatile thereafter. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) follows these pricing changes through its monthly sugar index. Below are details of how the index changed from 1990 to 2024 which reflects basic prices, courtesy of Trading Economics:

1990-1991: the index reaches its highest point for 1990, in March, at 95.1 points before hitting rock bottom in May 1991 at 46.9 points.

1999-2002: in April 1999, the index reached its lowest point in the benchmark period at 33.5 points. It would reprise the trend in May 2002 at 37.6 points.

2010-2011: the index edged up in January 2010 to 163.8 points, an upward shift that culminated in January 2011 at 183.2 points.

2012-2024: from 2012 onward, sugar prices, per the FAO index measure, have swung up and down numerous times. The index reached its most recent low in April 2020 at 63.2 points and ended November 2024 at 126.4 points.

What is the world’s average daily sugar price at point of origin? 

Based on the International Sugar Organization (ISO)’s statistics, daily sugar prices hover around $0.19 per pound, as of December 2024. The highest point for the period was at $0.20 on December 2. Arguably, export sugar averaged between $507.90 and $547.15 per tonne daily in the whole of December 2024. All ISO calculations above are from New York and London futures. 

Which countries have the highest and lowest retail sugar prices? 

The costliest place to buy retail sugar is Hong Kong at $3.20 per kg, as of December 2024, according to Global Product Prices. Comparatively, the cheapest sugar buy is in Egypt at $0.58 a kg.