Sugar Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry produce raw sugar from sugar cane, refine raw cane sugar, and produce refined beet sugar from sugar beets. Major companies include Amalgamated Sugar, American Crystal Sugar, Fanjul Corp, and Imperial Sugar (all based in the US); Cosan and Copersucar (both in Brazil); Nippon Beet Sugar Manufacturing (Japan); Nordzucker and Südzucker (both in Germany); Tereos (France); and Tongaat Hulett (South Africa).

The world produces about 157 million metric tons of sugar annually in more than 100 countries. The US produces about 7 million metric tons of sugar annually. The largest producers are Brazil, India, and the EU, according to the Center for Agricultural Policy and Trade Studies at North Dakota State University.

The US sugar manufacturing industry consists of about 40 companies with combined annual revenue of about $10 billion and is expected to grow at a moderate rate over the next two years. Key growth drivers include new packaging for products and commercial uses for byproducts.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by domestic sugar consumption and government controls on imports and pricing. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations and cost controls. Large companies have economies of scale in production and distribution. Small companies can compete effectively by serving local markets. The industry is highly concentrated: the eight largest companies account for more than 75 percent of industry revenue.

Sugar manufacturers compete with makers of lower-cost sweeteners ...