Insight Focus
US sugar prices firm as supplies continue to tighten. Spot supplies are limited as most sellers are sold out for 2026, while growers delay harvest in hopes of improving beet yields despite increasing frost risk. Crop concerns across beet and cane regions, including weather pressures and pest issues in Louisiana, are expected to result in lower US sugar production forecasts in the August WASDE report.
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Tightening Supplies Support US Sugar Prices
Activity in the cash sugar market was slow this week, but prices firmed amid concerns about tightening supplies.
Beet sugar prices were unchanged to mostly higher. Values for 2026-27 Midwest beet sugar were 47c to 49c/lb, FOB, up 2c on the low end and unchanged on the high end. Pacific beet sugar prices were 49c to 51c/lb, FOB, also unchanged to 2c higher. Cane sugar prices remained firm. Prices for Pacific and Northeast cane sugar were 53c to 55c/lb, FOB, while Gulf and Southeast cane sugar values were 51c to 53c/lb, FOB, all unchanged but with a firm tone.
Spot prices were steady to 1c/lb higher, but were mostly untested, as most sellers are sold out for 2026 and those still entertaining spot sales have limited supplies left to move. Traders expect nearby supplies to remain tight in August and September as stocks dwindle and growers seek to maximise sugar content in beets by delaying early harvest, hoping late-season rains and a longer time in the ground will benefit the crop.
A delayed harvest could push more sugar into 2026-27, but not enough to alter the downturn in the overall production forecast. It also carries the risk of an early frost.
Beet sugar prices were raised this week amid crop concerns in the Red River Valley, as well as other growing states. Most sugar beet areas need rain, as reflected in USDA crop condition ratings that were mostly lower than a week earlier. Ratings were already mostly below year-ago levels for this point in the season.
Weather and Pest Issues Weigh on Sugar Crops
Sugar cane crops in Florida and Louisiana face their own challenges, particularly in Louisiana. The crop there has struggled since cold weather hit earlier in the year. Excessive rainfall has been more problematic than dryness, including the latest deluges brought by Tropical Storm Bertha. Of particular concern in Louisiana is the rapid spread of the pasture mealybug, a pest that affected crops in Australia and Southeast Asia before being confirmed in the US in 2025. The pest causes yellow canopy syndrome, reducing sugar recovery more than cane tonnage.
Sugar cane harvester next to a cane crop, Louisiana.
As a result, beet and cane sugar production forecasts are expected to be lowered from July levels in the USDA’s August 12 WASDE report. The USDA will also issue its first sugar beet production forecast for the 2026 crop, which is expected to be lower due to reduced acreage compared with 2025, with weather concerns adding further downside risk.
Source: USDA
Sugar deliveries have remained strong, although processors were reluctant to say whether actual deliveries were up from a year ago, given the boost from the multi-year reporting error by one processor noted by the USDA in July. Still, active shipments have further supported price firmness, which has largely been attributed to tightening supplies.
Corn sweetener markets were quiet. Some early business has been completed at prices flat to firmer than in 2026, but most market participants expect negotiations on 2027 contracts to begin later in August.
