An unusual sugar high

Production is down worldwide after crops suffer weather damage. Now prices are climbing as supplies drop.

By Kim Peterson Jan 27, 2010 1:44PM
Sugar is seeing strong global demand right now, and prices have hit a 29-year high, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The world's supply of sugar is taking a hit, in part because of unusual weather in key growing areas. In Brazil, the world's largest sugarcane region, quality has suffered and output has dropped because of rain throughout the growing season and harvest, the Journal reports.

In India, the second-largest producer, a weird monsoon season deprived plants of water. And remember the cold weather that threatened some Florida orange crops? That affected sugarcane in the state, too, leading to lower production there.

Florida produces about a quarter of all U.S. cane, the Journal reports.

The world will be in a "sugar deficit" of about 7.2 million tons this year, one organization said.
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