Sajjad Ahmad, Deputy Business Editor

The UAE occupies the fourth position in the world for exporting white sugar and the local market has witnessed a 5 per cent growth in 2023, said Jamal Al Ghurair, Managing Director of Al Khaleej Sugar Company on the sidelines of the Dubai Sugar Conference 2024 on Tuesday.

 Jamal added, “Al Khaleej Sugar Company, the biggest independent refinery in the world, is keen on reaching an annual production of 1.5 or 1.8 million tonnes in 2024, in case of increasing demand, compared to 600,000 tonnes in 2023.”

About the local market growth, he explained, “The white sugar market witnessed growth in 2023 by about 5%. I expect stability in the local market during 2024.”

Regarding the local consumption, Jamal added, “The UAE’s consumption of white sugar only amounts to about 200 thousand tonnes annually, while the rest of the production is exported to the GCC countries, the region and the other countries of the world. He indicated that the share of Gulf Sugar exports in the total production amounts to 85%, and the company’s share of the local market amounts to nearly 70%.”

Al Ghurair explained that the UAE sugar market has witnessed a reversal in dumping services in 2023 due to the slowdown in India’s exports due to the decrease in production due to climate change, controlling the impact on global supply lines of sugar due to global events or the rise in prices due to shipping rates.Al Ghurair explained that Al Khaleej Sugar is studying expansion outside the UAE, if technology-rich opportunities become available, while the company’s current focus is on enhanced production in the current lines in the country, and with regard to supplying the company’s products to more than 50 countries around the world.

The Dubai Sugar 2024 conference witnessed the attendance of about 800 officials and experts from more than 70 countries.

The conference discussed the opportunities and challenges facing agriculture, its production, supply and shipping centers, and ways to mitigate related risks.The Dubai Sugar Conference has become one of the foremost events in the sugar industry, since its inception in 2016. Going past the uncertainties and seismic changes of the last few years, the sugar industry is now poised at a unique juncture. It gives the stakeholders a perfect opportunity to meet, ponder and chart the future course of action.

 

For his part, Geovane Consul, CEO of the Brazilian company BP Bunge Bioenergia, said that the sugar cane industry in Brazil, which is the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world, is well known in the global world with its 75% share of global production, as it has reached the country’s borders from Sugar in 2023 is about 12.8 million tonns, while its volume reaches about 39 million tonns.

He said that the impact on Brazil’s production increased during the year 2024 due to climate changes, compared to the country’s exports in 2023, which are heading towards production and export, which reached 40.8 million tonns of sugar.

 

This year, the conference sheds light on climate change, which has become at the top of the agenda again, especially after the “Cop28” conference as the industry has become more focused on the UAE’s sustainability.

Against this latter background, sugar is set to come to the center.

Reports from the World Health Organization and other reports highlighting many health issues except for the widely used local industrial areas.The participants expected a large deficit in global sugar production during the year 2024, while Brazilian production increased to 8 million during the year 2023, but no one can predict the same general increase.

India’s 2023 production also saw a decline last year, leaving demand uncertain at a time when the world has lagged behind at least 6 million tonns of Indian sugar exports. Thailand’s 2024 crop is also likely to be much lower than it was in 2023.