Colombia has imported 77k tonnes of white sugar from the world this year, more than double last year’s total.
It normally imports from Peru under a Free Trade Agreement, but prices there are too high.
Colombia’s imports from Peru are just 22k tonnes so far this year, down by 81k tonnes on 2019.

Colombia’s Whites Imports from the World Market Surge

Colombia has imported 77k tonnes of sugar from the world market this year, up from 30k tonnes last year.
Imports were especially strong in July and August, where it imported 33k tonnes; a large amount of this sugar came from Brazil.
This is the most sugar Colombia has imported from the world market over the past three years (between January and August).

The increase in world market imports is rare, as Colombia’s sugar market is protected by a variable duty known as Arancel.
However, this duty has been fluctuating a lot recently, as the world market has been volatile.
These fluctuations have made it more feasible for Colombia to buy sugar from the world market.

Who Would Colombia Usually Import From?

Colombia often imports a lot of its sugar from Peru as it can enter duty-free.
Last year, it imported 103k tonnes of sugar from Peru; 81k tonnes higher than this year’s sum.

However, trade between these two countries depends on what is happening in domestic markets too.
In September, Colombia would have had to pay $403/mt for Peruvian imports, but with the Peruvian domestic price at $582/mt, it made little sense for them to sell outside the country.

If Peru’s domestic price remains strong, we may even see some Colombian sugar flow into Peru.
The reason behind Peru’s strong domestic prices throughout this period will be discussed in our next opinion.
With strong domestic prices, Colombia has the opportunity to import from the World Market and then import sugar into Peru duty-free for more than the Colombian price.
This would mean Colombia ends up importing even more sugar from the World Market, in order to fill the void caused by exporting.

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Stephanie Rodriguez

Stephanie graduated from Babson College in 2020, with a bachelor’s degree in Operations Management and Data Analytics. She joined CZ in 2020 for a one year internship where she focused on developing dashboards, content and expanding our network in the Americas (excluding Brazil). Stephanie is responsible for writing content and capturing data for the Americas (excluding Brazil), presenting our market view to clients, and working on different consultancy projects.