USDA sells 136,026 tons of sugar to ethanol producers

In Washington, the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation purchased 136,026 short tons of refined beet sugar for approximately $65.9 million. CCC then immediately re-sold that sugar to bioenergy producers for approximately $12.6 million, resulting in a net expenditure to CCC of $53.3 million.

The sugar purchased by CCC requires sugar loan repayments, preventing forfeitures of loan collateral. To comply with the sequestration order that is currently in place, the amount of sugar purchased from acceptable offers for the Feedstock Flexibility Program was reduced by 5.1 percent below the amount that was offered.