Total U.S. sugar imports from October through May are up just 0.8 percent year on year. This small change is deceptive, however, as there are more radical variations within individual import categories.
Though USDA forecasts imports from Mexico will rise by 5.6 percent in 2017/18, the import volume is down 9.9 percent through May. Sugar prices within Mexico have been unusually strong this season, high enough to encourage sales of U.S. sugar to Mexico.
Imports of tariff-rate quota sugar are up 18.4 percent for raw sugar and down 13.2 percent for refined, while imports under other free-trade agreements are down 24.8 percent.
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