Traded sugar in the United States and the UK posted slim price gains on August 19, 2025, with raw cane futures up 0.37%, day-on-day. The brief rally followed cane yield fall news in Brazil.
Mirroring New York’s raw cane sugar or #11 was London’s white sugar or #5, which edged up 0.23% on the 19th.
Even though #11 gained $0.06 day-on-day, it did not break the $0.16 per pound (lb) threshold, settling at $0.1634/lb.
The gains were to do with Brazil’s cane yield fall in late July and small demand rallies in big consumer markets like Pakistan.
On August 15, 2025, Brazil’s Sugarcane Industry Union or Unica reported cane production for the last fortnight of July as down by -0.8%, y-o-y, favoring prices.
This price lead lasted briefly, however, for on August 20, raw cane sugar futures lost $0.01 daily, to $0.1630 a pound.
Ramped up Sugar Production in Brazil
The current dip echoes the fact that while the cane harvest in central-south Brazil is down, sugar output is up.
According to Unica’s report of August 15, cane conversion into sugar rose to 54.1% so far in 2025. This is versus 50.32% in the mirror period in 2024.
On August 18, Covrig Analytics independently cited that mills in Brazil would process more sugar than ethanol, a bearish factor.
This is despite the government of Brazil on August 1, 2025 raising ethanol blending limits to the E30 standard.
Hence, with the sweetener posting slim gains only to fall, raw cane sugar futures could remain flat for some time. The statistics below take the case further by examining historical price performance of #11 in the United States.
United States Raw Cane Sugar Pricing Statistics
Raw cane sugar is one of the most traded commodities in the United States. Its industry code is sugar #11 when it is for trade within a country’s borders. Raw cane sugar passes as #16 when it is for bulk delivery to New York duty-free from foreign destinations. Below is a historical look at the pricing history of the two in the U.S., starting, with #11. Data is mined from the Federal Reserve Bank, St. Louis:
| Year | Sugar [$/Ib] | Annual Change | ||
| 2010 | 0.2694 | 13% | ||
| 2015 | 0.1067 | -70% | ||
| 2020 | 0.1064 | -10% | ||
| 2025 [Jan-Mar] | 0.1893 | -22.2% |
How has sugar no.16 performed in New York in the recent past up to 2025?
Below data, courtesy of the Fed. Bank, St. Louis tables sugar #16’s performance, with key highlights between 2000 and 2025:
| Date | Price [$/lb] for #16 |
| Q2 2025 | 0.3501 |
| Q1 2025 | 0.3695 |
| Q1 2023 | 0.4298 |
| Q3 2011 | 0.3893 |
| Q1 2000 | 0.1770 |