Book excerpt: Since the first book published by Woodhead on the global sugar business (The international sugar trade) was released in 1996, the world sugar market has undergone fundamental change. Over the past decade the industry's key economic and policy drivers have created a new regional distribution of sugar production that has had an enormous impact on the price finding process as well as changing the type of sugar on offer to the world market. Brazil has become a dominant supplier whilst Cuba's production has collapsed to the pre World War One level; Russia has become the world's greatest importer and structural surpluses have seen stocks rise to historic highs and the world price fall to a level below the production costs of some of the most competitive exporters.The world sugar market focuses on these changes by identifying, describing and assessing the key industry drivers and their future potential impact on the market. Part one provides an overview – covering the history of sugar production and consumption, cultivation of beet and cane and the current state of the market for sugar and alternative sweeteners. Part two focuses on identifying, describing and assessing the key market drivers, both economic and political, on sugar demand. Part is devoted to a similar analysis of sugar supply, whilst part four covers the future for the sugar markets.The world sugar market is aimed at a wide audience from the sugar specialist looking for in-depth information on a specific topic to the newcomer needing to gain an overview of the current state-of-play and future for the world sugar market. The book is published in collaboration with the International Sugar Organization whose statistics and studies are used extensively throughout. - Provides a comprehensive overview of this complex and rapidly changing business - Written by three of the world's leading authorities on the global sugar industry and its economics - Includes data from the International sugar Organization