Sugar Commodity Industry takes Sugarcane and Sugar Beet as Raw Materials

Sugar commodity industry takes sugarcane and sugar beet as raw materials to manufacture finished sugar products which find application in food & beverage sectors. In 2011, the global sugar output amounted to 160 million tons and was mainly distributed in Brazil, India, the European Union and China. Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer and exporter, boasted 23.8% of the global sugar output in 2011.

The leading sugar manufacturers in China include Nanning Sugar Industry Co., Ltd., Guangxi Guitang (Group) Co., Ltd. and COFCO Tunhe Co., Ltd., etc. In 2011-2012, as increased purchasing costs of sugarcane and falling sugar price shrank profit margins of the enterprises, the majority of sugar producers suffered a declining profit. Taking Nanning Sugar Industry for example, the revenue of the company rose by 9.0% YoY to RMB4.22 billion, and its net income plummeted by 73.5% YoY to RMB45.4 million in 2011. Later in H1 2012, the company made a loss of RMB44.1 million.

As one of the major producers and consumers of sugar, China ranked the global No. 3 and No. 2 in sugar output and consumption respectively in 2011. Sugarcane serves as principal raw material for sugar production and contributes more than 90% to the sugar output. In 2011, the output of China's sugar grew by 5.8% YoY to 11.7 million tons. The main producing areas of sugar are Guangxi, Yunnan and Guangdong which together account for about 85% of the country's total output.

With respect to sugar consumption, the rising living standards of Chinese residents and the rapid progress of sugar-consuming industries such as food and beverage sectors have empowered the sugar consumption in China to stay at approximately 14 million tons in recent years. In 2011, the apparent consumption of sugar in China got to 14.6 million tons; due to the fact that the sugar output failed to meet the demand, China imported 2.9 million tons of sugar, up 65.3% year-on-year.