Coming October Contract Expiration, Weather Risks to Brazil's Harvest Earlier Pushed Prices Higher

NEW YORK—Sugar prices trimmed their gains late in Tuesday's session as hefty global supplies weighed on the market.

Investors with bets that prices would fall have been taking profits from their positions since the market ended at a five-year low last week. In addition, the upcoming expiry of the October contract, weather risks to Brazil's harvest, and an uptick in demand for raw sugar from refiners pushed prices higher. But demand petered out just above 16 cents a pound in the March contract.

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The persistent U.S. drought is taking a toll on producers of ethanol, with corn becoming so scarce that nearly two dozen ethanol plants have been forced to halt production.

The Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry trade group, provided data to The Associated Press showing that 20 of the nation's 211 ethanol plants have ceased production over the past year, including five in January. Most remain open, with workers spending time performing maintenance-type tasks. But ethanol production won't likely resume until after 2013 corn is harvested in late August or September.

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Lobbyists for sugar growers—already forced to rely on shady arguments to persuade Congress to keep giving handouts to their clients—are facing a new P.R. problem: Twinkie production may be moving to Mexico. Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, has blamed union troubles for its bankruptcy, but other experts have pointed to U.S. government-inflated sugar prices as a possible factor in the company’s decline.

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Halloween: a time for costumes, trick-or-treating and reviving Congressional battles over federal programs. At least that's what's happening with two major industries that have opposing interests on sweet tooth issues.

The sugar industry wants the federal government's sugar program -- which places tariffs on most foreign sugar -- to continue as it is in the current farm bill. The candy industry wants it repealed or reformed.

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The sugar industry has for decades manipulated scientists, government regulators, physicians and the public into believing that sugar is not a serious health risk.

Perhaps it’s not what people will want to read after the annual sugar-fest known as Halloween, but Mother Jones has a terrific article in its current (Nov.-Dec.) issue about how the sugar industry has for decades manipulated scientists, government regulators, physicians and the public into believing that sugar is not a serious health risk.

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Soda makers, restaurateurs and other businesses sued Friday to try to block the city's unprecedented move to restrict sales of super-sized, sugary drinks, an effort the city called a coup for public health but the industry views as unfair and undemocratic.

"For the first time, they're telling New Yorkers how much of certain safe and lawful beverages they can drink," said Caroline Starke, a spokeswoman for the business groups, whose complaint also faults the city for making the decision through an unelected board.

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Florida’s sugarcane season began Monday as U.S. Sugar Corp. launched its 82nd annual harvest. The company’s harvesting and processing operations run 24 hours a day, seven days a week through early April.

U.S. Sugar spokeswoman Judy Sanchez said the company, with more than half of its 180,000 acres of sugar cane in Palm Beach County, expects to produce 7.1 million tons of sugarcane resulting in 770,000 tons of refined sugar.

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Rainy Weather in Brazil Had Delayed Harvest, but Production Has Improved of Late, Relieving Fears of Shortage

NEW YORK—Raw-sugar futures fell 5.9% last week, as production picked up in top sugar-producer Brazil on the heels of unseasonable rains.

Futures prices had rallied 27% from a 22-month low in early June to 23.92 cents a pound on July 20 due to fears the deluge would squeeze supplies from the world's top producer of the sweetener.

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Washington — The inauguration of a major sugar plant in Sudan this month was made possible because of a decision by the U.S. administration to grant a one-time exemption from the sanctions it imposed on the East African nation more than a decade ago, according to a newspaper report.

Last April, the Sudanese government was placed in humiliating situation when it was forced to cancel the highly publicized opening of the White Nile Sugar Factory at the 11th hour due to the refusal of the company providing the plant's software to release it citing compliance with U.S. sanctions.

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Talk about a sweet tooth. The domestic sugar industry, which wants to continue receiving federal price supports, in recent weeks has been showering freshman Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore, with campaign cash.

In her latest campaign disclosure report, Bonamici reports receiving $12,000 in May and June from eight different sugar grower political action committees. That's on top of another $5,000 she had earlier received from the biggest of the sugar lobbies -- the American Crystal Sugar PAC.

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Soda and candy makers seek to end a program that keeps U.S. sugar prices high by restricting imports. U.S. growers say that part of the farm bill, up for renewal, is vital.

WASHINGTON — Makers of sodas, candy bars and other sweetened snacks are taking aim at a long-standing federal program that keeps sugar prices high by restricting imports.

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Developing new or reformulating existing products with low or no sugar is a way consumer demand for lower sugar content is met. For this reason, TIC Gums is introducing Ticaloid Sugar Free (SF) 1 to the food and beverage industry on June 26, 2012 at the IFT annual tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ticaloid SF-1 was specifically designed to replace the textural and stability attributes found in full sugar systems that are lost when artificial sweeteners are substituted. Ticaloid OC 1 was developed to improve the stability of fully sugared syrups to improve even those.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to table an amendment to the federal farm bill that would have phased out a financial support system for sugar.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, both Minnesota Democrats, were among those who opted not to act on a proposal to reform the sugar program. Through import restrictions, price guarantees and loans, the program essentially ensures profits to farmers in Minnesota's huge sugar beet industry.

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Washington has no intention of renegotiating done deals under the free trade agreement, particularly on sugar access, during the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks next month, the Department of Agriculture said Monday.

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WASHINGTON, -- When you don't have the facts, generate confusion.

That is apparently The Sugar Association's game plan, as today through yet another press release they continued to grasp for a rationale as to why anyone should support their self-serving lawsuit aimed at suppressing an education program intended to communicate to the public the simple fact that High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sugar.

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BP Plc (BP/) has invested $7 billion in alternative energy since 2005. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) (XOM) is spending $600 million on a 10-year effort to turn algae into oil. And Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) has been buying up sugar cane mills, plantations and refineries to make ethanol in Brazil.

In the U.S., Shell already produces small lots of so-called drop-in biofuels--engine-ready products that can replace gasoline from a plant in Houston that uses sugar beets and crop waste.

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The Sugar Industry is Discovering Stevia: Stevia First (STVF), Stevia Corp (STVF), GLG Life Tech (GLGL) & Sunwin International Neutraceuticals (SUWN)

As Stevia goes mainstream, its potentially good news for Stevia stocks Stevia First (STVF), Stevia Corp (STEV), GLG Life Tech (GLGL) and Sunwin International Neutraceuticals (SUWN).

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BALTIMORE, -- Baltimore's Domino Sugar refinery will make history on Monday [April 9] by receiving the largest single raw sugar shipment to be delivered to any port east of the Mississippi.

The inner harbor's iconic refinery will set a record by receiving more than 95 million pounds of raw sugar, just six weeks short of the factory's 90th anniversary.

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NEW YORK—U.S. sugar users are pressing for more low-tariff imports of the sweetener as an annual window opens for the federal government to relax trade restrictions.

The U.S. imports about a quarter of the 11 million tons of sugar it consumes each http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifyear, but the government limits how much of that can be brought in duty-free or at low tariffs. The quota is designed to protect domestic producers but can also inflate prices for sugar users.

With U.S. supplies down 2.8% from the previous season, the pressure is on the government to allow more duty-free or low-tariff sugar in.

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FAIRFIELD, Calif., Jelly Belly Candy Company looks forward to discussing sugar reform with presidential candidate Rick Santorum when he visits our Fairfield factory on Thursday, March 29. Our company is representative of U.S. small business generally and the more than 500 small- or medium-sized candy companies in the U.S. specifically – many of which are family-run operations like Jelly Belly.

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