NEW YORK: Mexico’s sugar production in the 2023/24 season (Oct-Sept) was projected on Friday to fall 15% from the previous crop to 4.7 million metric tons, the lowest volume for the last 10 years, said analyst and supply chain services provider Czarnikow.

Mexico’s sugarcane crop had a poor development this season, due to insufficient rain, resulting in low cane volumes per hectare as well as poor industrial yields during processing, Czarnikow’s analyst Stephanie Rodriguez said in a report.

“With lower sugar production, Mexico will have to import sugar, just like we saw last season,” she said, adding that the country will likely buy sugar from Central American producers such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to be able to fulfil its export quota to the United States.