Based on World Bank data, the average global sugar price reached USD 0.56 per kilogram (kg) in May 2023.
This price increased by 5.6% compared to April 2023 (month-on-month), surged by 30.2% compared to May 2022 (year-on-year), and marked the highest price in the last decade.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the global sugar price surge in May 2023 was due to several factors, including concerns about the El Niño event, a phenomenon of warming sea surface temperatures that can cause droughts in several regions.
"There is increased concern about the developing El Niño, which could affect the 2023-2024 harvest, coupled with lower-than-expected global sugar supplies," the FAO stated in its World Food Situation report on Friday, June 2, 2023.
"Delays in shipments amid tight competition for soybeans and corn in Brazil also contributed to the rise in global sugar prices," the FAO added.
According to Putu Juli Ardika, Director of Agro-Industry at the Ministry of Industry, this increase in global sugar prices will not immediately impact the food and beverage industry in Indonesia.
This is because large-scale food and beverage industries usually purchase sugar raw materials based on specific time contracts, and currently, industry players are still using refined sugar (GKR) stocks imported at the beginning of 2023.
"(Sugar imports) refined from the beginning of 2023 have already arrived, the ones with high price increases were in May," said Putu, as reported by Katadata.co.id on Tuesday, June 12, 2023.
Putu assessed that the impact of the increase in global sugar prices will only be felt in Indonesia when the early 2023 import contracts expire. He could not yet predict when this impact would occur.
"I have to check the data first, because we need to see how many (sugar import) permits have been realized. When the sugar price increased can be seen there. If before May, the price was still lower. If now, there is no influence yet," said Putu.
Meanwhile, based on data from the Ministry of Trade's Basic Needs and Market Monitoring System (SP2KP), the average price of granulated sugar in Indonesia has remained relatively stable from the last quarter of 2022 to May 2023.