U.S. sugar imports for the first ten months of the 2017/18 market year, October through July, totaled 2.583 million metric tons (MMT), up 7 percent from the 2.409 MMT imported in the same period last season.

Not all categories have been equal growth. Imports of raw tariff-rate quota (TRQ) sugar are up 19 percent, while imports of sugar from Mexico are up a respectable 5 percent. These two categories represent 41 percent and 35 percent, respectively, of 2017/18 imports to date.

Volumes for every other major import category are down. Re-export sugar is 10 percent of imports to date, and its volume is down 11 percent year on year (YoY). Refined TRQ imports, covering 7 percent of imports to date, are down 13 percent YoY. At 6 percent of the total, TRQ imports under free-trade agreements (FTA) are down 4 percent.

Imports of high-duty sugar are up 266 percent YoY but still represent only 1 percent of all imports to date.

Monthly cumulative U.S. sugar imports

Source: USCBP, USCB, USDA, McKeany-Flavell
Posted by: Information Services
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