The US Department of Agriculture has said that it is to sell remaining government sugar supplies and increase marketing allotments in order to boost the domestic sugar supply.
The USDA said it would immediately offer around 185,000 short tons of federal sugar supplies up for sale.
Jack Roney of the American Sugar Alliance told Reuters that the USDA’s actions would have minimal market impact because they had been expected. He also said that the government could make a big profit from the sale.
At current prices, the department could sell its sugar for around 22 cents per pound. When it purchased the sugar, in 2000, prices were as low as 17 cents, said Roney.
The USDA also said it would raise the amount of US sugar allowed to be sold by 500,000 short tons to 8.2 million, reported Reuters.
