The world’s two largest sugar producing and exporting nations, Brazil and India, also use part of their output to make ethanol. Brazil has a long history of doing so but it has not changed the relative share of sugar that is exported. By contrast, and as predicted, India’s share of sugar production moving into export has begun to decline. At this juncture, 11.5 percent of India’s sugar goes into ethanol production but with the target being 20 percent, a continued decline in exports is expected. The change may not have as much food market impact as would be expected. The demand for non-nutritive sweeteners has been growing. This is based in part on increased health concerns, with products labeled zero sugar gaining m...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.