Accounting for about 2% of the global dry market, sugar is historically one of the most globally traded commodities.
Approximately 100 countries produce sugar from beet or cane, while around all 180 countries consume sugar.
The European Union is also the second largest exporter of sugar. Sugar is subsidized in many developing countries as well as the European Union, the United States and Japan through production and high tariffs on imports.
The two main sources of sugar come from beets and cane, although there is little perceptible difference between the two.