Recent market reports have indicated that Brazil has recorded a rise of sugar exports to the highest level in three years. According to preliminary data from the country's Trade Ministry, the exports of white sugar rose to 736,124 tonnes in August 2016 from 459,134 a month earlier and compared with only 335,231 tonnes in the same month last year.

However, Raw sugar exports fell to 2,228,678 tonnes last month from 2,452,005 tonnes in July, which according to experts, was still up sharply from 1,476,209 tonnes in the same month last year.

According to the report, total sugar exports in August 2016 therefore reached 3.029 million tonnes up from 2.951 min in July and sharply above 1.841 min in the same month in 2015. This brought total sugar exports in the first five months of 2016/17 to 12.293 min tonnes, the highest since 2010 / 11 and up from 9.058 min shipped in the same period in 2015/16.

Source: MITC, 12 September 2016.