Sugar markets recover from lows as campaign ends

Global sugar markets have rallied in the past month, with prices hitting a five-month high on 24 March.

This marks a strong recovery and a significant shift in the market, which had fallen in early February to the lowest level for several years.

UK sugar beet growers with a percentage of their contracted tonnage on index-linked contracts may benefit from sustained global price rises, along with growers who opted to receive a market-linked bonus.

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The Sugar No 11 New York contract, which is used as the global benchmark for raw sugar trading, stood at 15.4 US cents/lb (£252/t) on 25 March, up by 11% since the start of the month.

Rising oil prices have driven up the sugar complex and supported prices globally.

Brazil, a major producer, is reportedly prioritising ethanol production over sugar, which could support prices in the short term.

However, it continues to have a large production surplus which may weigh on markets later in the year.

NFU Sugar commercial and market insight manager Gareth Forber said: “Beet area in the EU and UK is still expected to fall in the region of 7%, bringing it to the second-lowest level since the 2017 reforms.

“This should see the bloc return to a deficit in 2026-27.”

Sugar beet campaign ends

The 2025-26 UK sugar beet campaign drew to a close in mid-March with more than 7m tonnes of beet being processed by British Sugar across its four factories, producing almost 1m tonnes of sugar.

Dan Green, agriculture director at British Sugar, said: “This campaign has been one of two halves.

“We had a strong start to processing in September thanks to favourable lifting conditions throughout autumn and up to January, when persistent cold and wet weather restricted beet deliveries into our factories.

“Looking more broadly, growers have delivered sugar yields exceeding five-year averages, and overall factory performance has been among the best in recent years.”