U.S. Sugar Corp.

WASHINGTON—U.S. food manufacturers paid less for sugar last month than they did 27 years ago, according to figures released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The average wholesale sugar price for April was 25 cents per pound, compared to 29.8 cents in April 1980 and 30.5 cents in April 1990, USDA data show. In fact, the average April sugar price from 1980 to 2006 was 26.25 cents per pound.

Jack Roney, an economist with the American Sugar Alliance, attributes today’s affordable prices to U.S. sugar policy, which is designed in part to help maintain stability in the marketplace for industrial sugar users.

“It’s hard to believe that food manufacturers are on Capitol Hill complaining about the cost of sugar in America,” Roney said. “Especially when you consider they are paying less today than they did when Jimmy Carter sat in the Oval Office.”

Roney also pointed to Mexican food manufacturers as an example of the great deal U.S. sugar buyers receive.

“Historically, wholesale sugar prices in Mexico have been higher than U.S. prices,” he explained. “The same can be said for the average price in the rest of the developed world where food companies pay 65 percent more for sugar than they do in the U.S.”

The average price for sugar in Mexico was 33 cents per pound last month, the USDA reported.

“So, when multinational food companies tell Congress that U.S. sugar policy has forced them to move to Mexico, it’s a classic case of scapegoating,” Roney continued. “The real reasons for relocating are cheap labor, lax government regulations, and negligible employee benefits.”

Despite the sugar savings that food processors have seen, grocery shoppers are not paying less at the check out line. Roney says that’s because food companies typically pocket the savings to boost profits instead of passing them along to consumers.

“The prices of candies and cakes have skyrocketed by more than 50 percent since 1980,” he said.