Would a Spoonful of Sugar Help: Is the Competition Structure in the U.S. Sugar Cane Growing and Milling Industries Changing?

The United States Sugar Corporation (U.S. Sugar) of Clewiston, Florida is among the largest growers and millers of sugar cane in the United States. In March 2021, U.S. Sugar announced that it had agreed to acquire the assets of Imperial Sugar—including a cane sugar refinery located near Savannah, Georgia— from Louis Dreyfus Co. This acquisition increased vertical integration and further consolidated the U.S. refined cane sugar supply. This EBOT—the first in a series—outlines the structure of U.S. sugar cane growers and sugar cane mills that produce raw cane sugar upstream from cane sugar refineries. Additional EBOTs will cover the structure of other sugar industry sectors, including cane sugar refining and sugar beet growing and processing.