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Business Environment Profiles - United States

Price of sugar

Published: 17 July 2025

Key Metrics

Price of sugar

Total (2024)

38 Cents per pound (lb)

Annualized Growth 2019-24

7.9 %

Definition of Price of sugar

The price of sugar is represented by the price of contract No. 16 raw sugar on the New York Board of Trade. Contract No. 16 prices became the standard sugar price in September 2009, when the previously used contract No. 14 prices were phased out. Annual figures are equally weighted averages of monthly means, and data and forecast growth rates are sourced from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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Recent Trends – Price of sugar

The price of sugar is projected to reach 38.4 cents per pound in 2025, representing a marginal 0.4% increase from the previous year. Despite stable price levels, ongoing inflationary pressures and lingering logistical challenges continue to influence market dynamics. The US government remains a significant factor in stabilizing domestic sugar prices above world levels through loan support mechanisms for processors. This policy intervention insulates the domestic market from global price volatility, ensuring prices stay above the cost of production and providing resilience against international supply and demand shocks.

Between 2020 and 2025, the price of sugar increased by 7.9%, driven by a rapid pandemic-driven shift in supply and demand patterns. In 2021, domestic sugar prices surged by 24.4% as the US economy reopened, with downstream industries ramping up production to address pent-up consumer demand. This trend continued in 2022, with a 6.6% price increase as production costs rose throughout the supply chain. Sugar prices expanded by 13.7% in 2023, attributed to both persistent inflation and international supply constraints, such as droughts and poor harvests in major producing countries like Brazil, India, and Thailand. These adverse growing conditions, combined with export bottlenecks from India and elevated demand from end consumers, kept supplies tight and prices high.

Sugar prices are forecast to decline by 6.0% in 2024, reflecting easing supply-side pressures and a projected correction in the world price of sugar. Despite this moderation, the market continued to face input cost challenges, such as ongoing inflation and residual effects from earlier supply disruptions. Additionally, global energy prices and their impact on corn-based sweeteners like corn syrup helped shape the competitive landscape for sugar in the US. Elevated oil prices over the period supported demand for corn-based ethanol, contributing to swings in the price relationship between sugar and its substitutes.

Over the five-year period to 2025, the US sugar market was characterized by strong volatility in the first few years due to pandemic-related disruptions, weather-related supply shocks in key international markets, and broad inflationary trends that raised costs throughout the supply chain. These drivers led to significant price increases in the early part of the period, followed by a moderation as global sugar supply chains began to normalize and downstream demand stabilized.

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5-Year Outlook – Price of sugar

The price of sugar is projected to remain essentially flat in 2026, edging down by 0.1% to 38.4 c...

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