• Guatemalan sugar production could hit a 10-year low in 2020/21.
  • This is because heavy rains reduced the canes’ sucrose yields (sugar content).
  • The lack of sun also hindered cane development.

Wet Weather Hits Sugar Production

  • We think Guatemala will produce 2.5m tonnes of sugar in 2020/21.
  • This is a 200k tonne decrease year-on-year and Guatemala’s poorest season since 2011/12.
undefined
  • We think the wet start and finish to the campaign reduced the canes’ sun exposure and limited sucrose development.
undefined
  • With this, the mills were unable to extract as much sugar as they usually would.
undefined
  • On top of this, the consistent cloud cover hindered cane development as less sunlight reached the cane.
  • This resulted in Guatemala’s poorest cane harvest for 10 years.
undefined
  • The repercussions were therefore felt across raw and white sugar production.
  • The former fell by 80k tonnes, while the latter fell by 115k tonnes year-on-year.
  • With this, Central America’s sugar export availability has reduced (more on this to come).
undefined

Other Opinions You Might Be Interested In…

undefined

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.

More from this author