Asian sugar market to see shifts amid evolving biofuel landscape and supply challenges

The Asian sugar market is poised for significant shifts in 2025 driven by a combination of agricultural dynamics, environmental policy and global market conditions. The global biofuel movement, propelled by a collective drive to limit carbon emissions by 2030, will have a trickle-down impact on the sugar market, particularly in regions where sugarcane is the primary feedstock for biofuels. Higher cane output from Thailand In Thailand, the 2024-25 sugarcane crushing season commenced Dec. 6, starting from the Eastern and Northeastern regions. S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates the cane crush for marketing year 2024-25 (October-September) at 102 million mt, a 24% increase year over year. “We should be seeing strong Thai exports in Q1 2025, especially during a period of seasonal tightness in the global market without Brazilian crop,” said a Singapore-based trader. As of Dec. 15, the total cane crushed in Thailand for the 2024-25 season was at 4.47 million mt, up 2.07 million mt ...