U.S. sugar exports for fiscal year 2024 are forecast to be the largest they’ve been in six years, rising to an estimated 160,000 short tons raw value (STRV) in the February WASDE report. About 88 percent of that, or 140,800 short tons of that total volume, is expected to go to Mexico, where sugar exports had fallen to a 15-year low.
The Economic Research Service says this forecast will put U.S. sugar exports to Mexico on par with those from 2008-2013 when the North American Free Trade Agreement was active. Under NAFTA, Mexico could import U.S. sugar without tariffs or quotas, and U.S. exports averaged 167,000 STRV. After falling below 50,000 STRV on average, the U.S. increased its sugar exports to Mexico in the last two years as U.S. domestic beet and cane sugar production rose and Mexico experienced back-to-back years of lower production related to drought and reduced fertilizer use.
