Sugar and Sweetners Outlook: May 2008

by Stephen Haley, Constanza Valdes, Alberto Jerardo, and Jose Toasa

At the end of March 2008, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) projected sugar beet acreage intentions for the 2008 crop year at 1.132 million acres, about 10.9 percent lower than 2007 crop year area planted. Assuming normal sucrose levels and continued improvement in productivity, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects fiscal year (FY) 2009 national beet sugar production at 4.400 million short tons, raw value (STRV), about 410,000 STRV less than the projection for FY 2008 (4.810 million STRV).

Keywords: Supply and use; imports; exports; WTO; forecast; production; cane sugar; honey; domestic consumption; ethanol

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