Sugar news

Bunge in Process of Selling Brazil Sugar Business; Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2014 ; http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579522633959049714?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304788404579522633959049714.html
"We're in the process and when we reach the moment (of closing a sale) we'll announce it," Mr. Parente told reporters at a dinner ahead of the inauguration on Friday of a grain-loading terminal in Barcarena, in northern Brazil.

Brazil Sugar King Cleared to Buy Top Commodity Rail Route, Apr 16, 2014
Bloomberg; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-15/brazil-sugar-king-cleared-to-buy-top-commodity-rail-route.html; Cosan, the sugar maker controlled by billionaire Rubens Ometto, won unanimous approval from ALL-America Latina Logistica SA (ALLL3) controlling shareholders to buy the train operator for about $3 billion in an all-stock deal, ALL-Logistica said in a ...

Wilmar Forms Myanmar Sugar Venture to Expand Push Into Sweetener By Yuriy Humber  Apr 14, 2014 9:40 AM; Wilmar International Ltd. (WIL), the largest sugar cane miller in Australia, agreed to form a Myanmar venture with a local partner as it builds on a four-year push into sugar production in Asia. The Singapore-based company will hold 55 percent in the venture with Great Wall Food Stuff Industry Co. after buying all of the local company’s sugar-manufacturing capacity, Wilmar said today in a statement. Wilmar will use its own funds for the investment and the venture will not have a “material impact” on this year’s earnings per share, the company said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-14/wilmar-forms-myanmar-sugar-venture-to-expand-push-into-sweetener.html

This Is What Happens When You Give Up Sugar for One Year; April 11, 2014; http://time.com/59856/this-is-what-happens-when-you-give-up-sugar-for-one-year/
The World Health Organization recently announced new guidelines, suggesting we cut our sugar intake to 5% of our daily calories, down from the previously recommended 10%. But in 2011, Eve Schaub had already decided to do something even more drastic: eliminate sugar from her diet altogether.... In her new book, Year of No Sugar, out this week, the author chronicles how she, her husband, and their two children got through the challenge. Starting with the usual suspects, like table sugar and honey (natural sugar, like the kind found in fruit, was acceptable), the Schaubs eliminated any food products containing added sugar. To their surprise, that meant some salad dressings, mayonnaise, bread, and even bacon.... The result: they started feeling much better. The changes came on slowly, Schaub says, beginning with having more energy. Schaub’s daughters missed fewer days of schools.
Sugar Output in Thailand May Miss Target as Drought Cuts Yields; Bloomberg Mar 31, 2014 6:35 PM ; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-31/sugar-output-in-thailand-may-miss-target-as-drought-cuts-yields.html
Thailand, the world's second-biggest sugar exporter, may produce less sweetener this year than forecast as dry weather shrinks yields, according to Thai Sugar Millers Corp. Output may total 11 million metric tons in the year started Nov. 25, less than ...

Cargill, Copersucar to form world's No. 1 sugar trader, Thu Mar 27, 2014; http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/27/cargill-sugar-idUSL5N0MO3O220140327
U.S.-based agribusiness trader Cargill and Brazil's Copersucar announced plans on Thursday to form a business to create the world's biggest sugar trader through a 50-50 joint venture. The venture will combine ...

Sugar Output in India Seen Jumping as Subsidy Boosts Exports; Bloomberg  - 27 March 2014; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-27/sugar-production-in-india-seen-jumping-as-subsidy-boosts-exports.html; Sugar output in India, the world's largest producer after Brazil, is set to climb for the first time in three years as a subsidy for raw exports and abundant dam water spur farmers to increase planting.

Buyer policies on palm oil

Indian food giant to source deforestation-free palm oil; Mongabay.com; http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0319-orkla-zero-deforestation.html; Orkla, a Nordic conglomerate that owns MTR Foods, one of India's major food companies, has established a zero deforestation policy for the palm oil it sources, reports Greenpeace... Orkla's policy commits it to full traceability and bars palm oil produced via forest and peatlands conversion by 2017. There are also provisions for workers rights and local communities.
Read: http://www.orkla.com/content/download/81608/16345118/file/Orkla%20Policy%20for%20sustainable%20palm%20oil.pdf

General Mills ramps up palm oil pledge to consider deforestation; BakeryAndSnacks.com 25 March 2014; http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Manufacturers/General-Mills-ramps-up-palm-oil-pledge-to-consider-deforestation; The cereal and snack titan said that while it was a, “relatively minor user of palm oil”, it remained committed to sourcing 100% of its palm oil responsibly and sustainably by 2015 - a pledge it first made in 2010. General Mills said it would continue ...


Colgate-Palmolive Latest Company to Jump on Deforestation-Free Palm Oil ...; Union of Concerned Scientists  - ‎Mar 24, 2014‎; http://www.ucsusa.org/news/commentary/colgate-palmolive-deforestation-free-palm-oil-0405.html; BERKELEY, Calif. (March 24, 2014) - Just days after General Mills committed to sourcing deforestation-free palm oil, Colgate-Palmolive today released its palm oil sourcing policy. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), major companies ...

Procter & Gamble think they can ignore deforestation - here's how we turn up the pressure; Greenpeace UK (blog); The companies you buy palm oil from are cutting down huge areas of rainforest - Greenpeace has photographic evidence from palm oil companies; http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/procter-gamble-think-they-can-ignore-deforestation-heres-how-we-turn-pressure-20140318

Procter & Gamble bows to pressure on palm oil deforestation; The Guardian,  9 April 2014; http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/09/procter-gamble-bows-to-pressure-on-palm-oil-deforestation; Procter & Gamble has bowed to pressure from environmentalists and revealed a new, extensive no-deforestation policy in the production of its products, including demanding fully traceable palm oil from suppliers. In the wake of severe criticism by a ...
and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/palm-oil-procter-gamble_n_5112715.html?utm_hp_ref=green

Sugar news and views

MSM seeks M&As globally with aim to be among top three in sugar industry; The Star Online  26 March 2014; http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/03/26/MSM-seeks-MAs-globally-It-aims-to-be-among-top-three-world-players-in-sugar-industry/
Sugar producer MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd (MSM) is actively seeking out merger and acquisition opportunities around the globe in line with its expansion plans, according to newly-appointed president and group chief executive officer ...

Growing El Nino threat rattles sugar market nerves; Agrimoney.com; 26 March 2014; http://www.agrimoney.com/news/growing-el-nino-threat-rattles-sugar-market-nerves--6913.html
Australia upgraded the likelihood of an El Nino setting in this year as the sugar investors in particular raised concerns over the weather pattern, for the threat it poses to production in Asia and Brazil.

Government's pre-poll sugar sop questioned at WTO; Times of India; 26 March 2014; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Governments-pre-poll-sugar-sop-questioned-at-WTO/articleshow/32700176.cms 
NEW DELHI: The government's pre-election bonanza for the sugar industry has been questioned at the World Trade Organization (WTO), making it the second farm subsidy to face global scrutiny in recent months.