North America

United States

U.S. sugar production in 1998/99 is forecast at 7.2 million tons, an increase of 1 percent from last year's production. U.S. production of sugar processed from sugarbeets in 1998/99 is forecast at 3.9 million tons, up 3 percent from 1997, while sugar produced from sugarcane is projected at 3.3 million tons, down 1 percent.

U. S. sugar exports in 1998/99 are forecast at 136,000 tons, down 19 percent from the previous year's shipments. The U. S. ships mainly to Canada, Mexico, and Jamaica.

For fiscal year 1998, the United States allocated 1.6 million tons of sugar under the raw sugar tariff rate quota (TRQ) (see table on this page). Throughout the year, according to stocks-to-use ratio published in the WASDE, tranches of 200,000 tons were canceled or allocated. During FY 1998, the January tranche was canceled, while the March and May tranches were allocated.