USDA announces no need to buy and sell sugar for ethanol this season

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced that it does not expect to purchase and sell sugar under the Feedstock Flexibility Program for crop year 2019, which runs from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020.

The CCC is required by law to quarterly announce estimates of sugar to be purchased and sold under the Feedstock Flexibility Program based on crop and consumption forecasts.

Federal law allows sugar processors to obtain loans from USDA with maturities of up to nine months when the sugarcane or sugar beet harvest begins. Upon loan maturity, the sugar processor may repay the loan in full or forfeit the collateral (sugar) to USDA to satisfy the loan.