1、GLOBAL MARKET REPORTSugar cane prices and sustainability SUSTAINABLE COMMODITIES MARKETPLACE SERIESVivek Voora,Steffany Bermdez,Han Le,Cristina Larrea,and Erika LunaSeptember 2023Market OverviewGlobal production and consumption of sugar cane recover after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.Sugar c

2、ane is one of the most efficient plants at converting sunlight into energy.It is common in diets around the world and is an important biofuel feedstock(UNICA,n.d.).This ancient agricultural commodity was traded for thousands of years as a product chewed for sweetness.Originally from New Guinea,sugar

3、 cane made its way across the world via trade routes to Southeast Asia,the Pacific islands,and India(Daniels&Daniels,1993).It became a crop of great importance in the 15th century during European colonial expansion(Daniels&Daniels,1993).A perennial crop grown mainly in tropical climates,sugar cane r

4、eaches 2 to 6 metres in height and takes 12 to 18 months to mature.Commercial sugar cane is a hybrid grass species accounting for 86%of global sugar production(Daniels&Daniels,1993).Sugar has become so widespread that it is linked to global health challenges,such as rising obesity(World Cancer Resea

5、rch Fund International,n.d.).Harvested sugar cane stalks are refined into cane sugar by extracting their juice,which is then boiled until crystallization and centrifuged to separate raw sugar,cane,and molasses.Most raw sugar cane is further refined into granulated sugar via filtration,crystallizatio

6、n,and drying for wide use in the food and beverage sector.In addition to sugar,processing sugar cane also yields molasses,a sweet,thick liquid used in food and distilled into alcohol(rum and cachaa)and bagasse,a residue burned to produce heat and steam to generate electricity.Cane juice can also be