SIC 2061 Cane Sugar, Except Refining

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE.
• Government Supports.
• Processing.
• Pollution in the Everglades.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• WORKFORCE.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 2061

This classification includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing raw sugar, syrup, or finished (granulated or clarified) sugar from sugar cane. Establishments primarily engaged in refining sugar from purchased raw sugar or sugar syrup are classified in SIC 2062: Cane Sugar Refining. Plantations primarily involved in production of sugarcane and sugar beets are classified in SIC 0133: Sugarcane and Sugar Beets.

NAICS CODE(S)

311311

Sugarcane Mills

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

A tropical grass that reaches a maximum height of 10 to 20 feet, sugar cane contains a relatively high level of sucrose. Sugar mills begin the process of extracting sucrose from the sugar cane by washing the stalks of cane and cutting them into shreds with rotating knives. The shredded cane is then run between giant rollers to extract the sugary juice. This juice is then clarified and crystallized into golden raw sugar. The raw sugar that emerges from the sugar mills is more than 95 percent sucrose.

U.S. sugar cane milling profitability depends on federal government subsidies and import controls. Beginning in the late 1700s, producing raw sugar has been a lucrative business for growers and millers. Domestic sugar prices are government controlled, and foreign imports are strictly limited. Some members of Congress, as well as numerous U.S. agricultural policy critics, advocate less government involvement. They continue to push for decreased price supports for domestic sugar cane as well as the removal or easing of foreign sugar quotas. Critics claim import controls hurt small sugar-producing Caribbean nations as well as the Philippines. The United States imported sugar from 41 countries in 2005.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

In 2005, there were 12 refineries and 34 mills processing cane sugar in the United States. The sugar cane industry is confined by the crop's growing conditions and the logistics of transporting sugar cane. Mills that process sugar cane into raw sugar must be located near cane plantations since cut sugar cane is too bulky and heavy to ship. Mills in this category process cane into crystals of raw sugar that can be transported in bulk, like grain, aboard ships or by land. Therefore, production in the United States is limited to Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Texas, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Florida alone accounts for more than 50 percent of total U.S. cane sugar production.

Sugar mills are located near the plantations on which sugarcane is grown and harvested. In many cases, these are operated by the plantations or as cooperatives by the owners of several sugarcane plantations. The United States Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, Florida, for example, is both a grower and manufacturer of raw cane sugar.

Mills run continuously, day and night, from fall until spring, when the last cane is harvested. To facilitate the constant milling, growers cultivate a variety of sugar cane that they can harvest throughout the season. The variety of cane available, however, depends on the soil and climate on a particular plantation.

Government Supports

The U.S. government has supported sugar prices for more than 200 years. In 1789, the federal government imposed an import tariff to raise revenue, and for the next 100 years this tariff yielded almost 20 percent of all import duties, the main source of government money before the Civil War. The Sugar Act of 1934 regulated domestic sugar production, imports, and prices. Import quotas were assigned to foreign sugar-growing countries.

Price supports were applied sporadically during the 1970s, depending upon the price of sugar on the world market. Temporary suspensions of price controls in 1974 and 1980 resulted in increased sugar prices. Shortages soon followed and sugar prices plummeted.

As a result, in the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 the government agreed to purchase raw cane sugar and refined beet sugar for a specific price per pound if commercial prices were not high enough. In order to avoid payments, the government imposed tariffs to discourage imports, limit the supply of sugar, and keep sugar prices level at or above the government's minimum price. Farmers claim to get no benefit from the subsidies. Industry claims are that U.S. consumers pay 28 percent less for sugar than consumers anywhere else worldwide. However, the U.S. price for sugar in 1995 was more than double the world's price. Subsequent agricultural acts continue to provide price supports for sugar, keeping quotas low and prices high in the domestic market.

In recent decades, the United States has imposed strict quotas on the import of foreign sugar, cutting imports 80 percent since 1975. The tariff on sugar imports in...