SUGAR: U.S. fiscal year 2016/17 beet sugar production is decreased 265,000 short tons, raw value (STRV) to 5.106 million. Sucrose
recovery from sugarbeet slicing reported by processors in the Sweetener Market Data (SMD) for the period covering the 6 months
between August 2016 and January 2017 of this year’s sugarbeet harvest cycle imply a final crop year recovery projection from slicing
at 13.9 percent, much less than the 14.7 percent underlying previous projections based on historical averages. Projected imports of
sugar from Mexico for 2016/17 are increased by 189,780 STRV to 1.162 million, and projected tariff-rate quota imports (TRQ) are
increased by 44,093 STRV to 1.576 million based on USDA’s increase of the specialty sugar TRQ, announced on February 24.
Deliveries for human consumption for 2016/17 are increased by 100,000 STRV to 12.100 million based on strong deliveries in the
first 4 months of the fiscal year and a continuation of that growth, but at a reduced rate for the remainder of the year. Ending stocks
for 2016/17 are projected residually at 1.677 million STRV, implying a stocks-to-use ratio of 13.6 percent. Included in ending stocks
are 12,476 STRV of sugar recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau as imported from Mexico in 2016/17 but which entered under a
2015/16 Mexico export license.