China is one the world’s largest sugar consumers, and also one of the world’s largest importers of raw sugar.
Chinese sugar production peaked at 14.84m tonnes in 2007/08, and has lingered at around 10m tonnes ever since, meaning China’s sugar consumption has outstripped production and the country is regularly in deficit.
The local sugar mills’ inability to meet consumption has created a space for the sugar refining sector, processing imported raw sugar.
The refineries operate in a protected environment: Government licences are required to build a refinery, the refineries’ raws processing capacity must be approved by Ministry of Commerce (around once a year) and permits are required to import raw sugar once the refinery is operational.
Despite the country’s economic growth and rapid urbanisation over the past decade, China’s sugar consumption is relatively stable, with most of the growth in sweetener consumption having been captured by High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in the last 10 years.
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This Czapp Explainer was Published on the 16th April 2021.
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