How it work

Sugarcane is a crop primarily grown in tropical countries and has the notable quality of serving as both a food and a fuel source. Along with supplying 86 per cent of the world’s sugar (the remaining coming from beet), sugarcane also serves as a key biofuel feedstock, given that it is highly efficient in converting sunlight into energy. Seventy-five per cent of the sugarcane produced globally is consumed by the food manufacturing sector; the balance is used in biofuel production. Sugarcane cultivation and processing currently provide livelihoods for 100 million people across the world. Looking at the country level, the sugarcane industry employs over 1 million people in Brazil, nearly 25 per cent of its rural workforce. The Thai sugarcane supply chain employs 1.5 million people, including 107,000 smallholders, and around 0.5 million people depend on the sugarcane industry for their livelihoods in South Africa.4–6,53 Cane sugar, the raw sugar obtained from processing sugarcane, had an export value of USD 24.7 billion in 2017; an estimated 34.43 per cent (at least 54,593 million tonnes) of total cane sugar produced that year was exported. The largest cane sugar exporting countries in 2017 were Brazil (USD 11.4 billion), Thailand (USD 2.6 billion) and France (USD 1.3 billion); the largest cane sugar importing countries were Indonesia (USD 2.3 billion), the United States (USD 1.7 billion) and Bangladesh (USD 1.1 billion).Cane sugar supply growth outpaced demand growth for human consumption from 2016 to 2017, at rates of 8 per cent versus an estimated 2 per cent respectively. This imbalance resulted in a global cane sugar surplus of around 11 million tonnes. Assuming favourable weather conditions, this cane sugar surplus is expected to persist, according to projections through the year 2025, due to the expansion of planted areas in Asia, specifically China and Indonesia, as well as improved farm productivity.