The Dubai Sugar Conference

Welcome to The Dubai Sugar Conference 2024, the eighth edition of the sugar industry’s pre-eminent global forum. The Conference will be held from Monday, March 4 to Thursday, March 7, 2024 at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City.

Let’s meet, explore, elucidate… and, yes, seize the moment.

Since its inception in 2016, The Dubai Sugar Conference has grown in significance and value to become the most awaited event on the sugar calendar, bringing together key players and decision makers from across the sugar world. Last year, over 800 delegates from more than 70 countries attended the Conference – discussing novel ideas, transacting business, making connections, enjoying impactful dialogue, shaping the future of sugar and, most importantly, creating actionable opportunities.

 

Time’s new message

If we met in 2023 at a time of change and uncertainty, the hour articulates a new message now.

As discussed at COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, there’s evidence that the planet is heating up at an unprecedented pace. 2023 will be “the warmest year on record” according to a provisional report from the UN World Meteorological Organization, “with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. The world appears to be “living through climate collapse in real time – and the impact is devastating”.

Climate change is again at the top of the agenda. 

This creates the imperative for sustainability, the potential for carbon credits and beyond the monetization of carbon emissions, to opportunities in areas such as second-generation bioethanol, sustainable aviation fuel, new biopolymers and AI in predicting trends.

While these unfold, sugar could take centre stage again as a result of the recent WHO and other reports highlighting the health hazards of widely-used artificial sweeteners. What should the sugar industry do to reclaim the narrative? 

The impact of these circumstances cannot be overstated.

It is indeed a sweet moment for sugar after a long time.

 

Concerns and considerations

As per the International Energy Agency, “Some of the immediate pressures from the global energy crisis have eased, but energy markets, geopolitics and the global economy are unsettled and the risk of further disruption looms large. Fossil fuel prices have declined from their 2022 peaks, but markets are tense and volatile. Continued fighting in Ukraine, more than a year after Russia’s invasion, is now accompanied by the risk of protracted conflict in the Middle East. The macro-economic mood is downbeat, with stubborn inflation, higher borrowing costs and elevated debt levels”.

On the sugar front, when prices were elevated in 2023, raw sugar import demand saw significant declines in major import destinations such as China and Indonesia. As for global supply-demand, we ended the 2022/23 sugar year (October – September), with what was a more-or-less balanced picture, and what was being projected as a meaningful deficit in 2023/24 may turn out to be a surplus. What will 2024/25 bring?

Brazil came to the rescue of sugar consumers in 2023, with Centre-South Brazil growing its April-March sugar output by over 8 million tonnes, through a combination of increased sugar ratios, cane yields and much better weather than was predicted. To what extent is this repeatable in 2024 as the El Niño weather patterns subside and La Niña returns? Much has also been written about Brazilian export capacity – how will sugar escape from Brazil in 2024 and can the world rely on single source suppliers, if not, where will we see improvements in export logistics? 

The Indian monsoon disappointed again in 2023, dimming all export sugar prospects in 2024 – just as the consuming world has grown accustomed to a minimum of 6-10 million tonnes annually. How will the dilemma of capping domestic sugar prices in an election year be reconciled with the need to maintain an ethanol programme that the government has put significant effort into funding and promoting? What options are available to the policy makers? Thereafter, what are the crop and export prospects in 2024/25? Will India return to export before 2026 or will imports be required?

Thailand has had a slow start to its 2023/24 crop, which is likely to be significantly lower than in the preceding year. What do we expect to see in 2024/25? How will Asia’s consumers be supplied? 

The EU plus UK sugar beet crops recovered – despite the wider bans on Neonicotinoids and the fall in EU acreage. Meanwhile, imports remained strong, and the EU could well risk importing more than its needs in 2024. Domestic prices peaked in May and have been on the decline. Exports are ongoing, buoyed by high world prices and a weaker euro. To what extent will the higher world and domestic sugar prices encourage more beet plantings this spring in Europe leading to fewer imports and increased exports? To what extent will unbridled low-cost imports from Ukraine prove to be a spoiler for the industry?

 

It’s prime time to talk sugar 

With so much happening, it’s just the moment to meet and get into the heart of things, make the most of the opportunities ahead. Come and listen to the best minds in the sugar industry debate and discuss the issues at The Dubai Sugar Conference 2024. Make lasting and deep connections, transact business and share knowledge. Be a part of the conversation, but importantly, shape the outcome.