Sugar prices increase 13% during 2023‎

Sugar prices recorded an increase of 13% during the current year 2023. There is a relationship between this increase and the El Nino climate phenomenon.

According to the head of agricultural commodity market research at Rabobank, based in the Netherlands, there is a very clear relationship between the El Niño phenomenon and high sugar prices, and he justified this by saying that “the weather pattern tends to make the conditions in the main sugar-exporting countries such as Thailand, India and Australia Drier than usual.”

He stated that the El Nino phenomenon causes the erosion or removal of a lot of sugar in the world, indicating that sugar-exporting countries are affected by drought and what is linked to the effects of the El Nino phenomenon.

The El Nino phenomenon is a natural climate pattern that occurs when sea temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean rise by 0.5 degrees Celsius above the long-term average. It could pave the way for more storms and droughts

The effects of El Niño tend to peak during December, but its impact usually takes time to spread around the world.

It is noteworthy that this delayed effect is the reason why forecasters believe that 2024 may be the first year in which humanity exceeds the critical global warming threshold.

The drought associated with the El Niño phenomenon in most parts of Southeast Asia, India, Australia and parts of Africa has supported the rise in prices of light commodities such as sugar, coffee and cocoa this year, according to Rabobank, which it said in its annual forecast for the year 2024.