Editing Sucrose (section)

===Trends===
[[File:Sugar Beet Factory, England.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|A table sugar factory in England. The [[Sugar beet#Processing|tall diffusers]] are visible to the middle left where the harvest transforms into a sugar syrup. The boiler and furnace are in the center, where table sugar crystals form. An expressway for transport is visible in the lower left.]]

Table sugar (sucrose) comes from plant sources. Two important sugar crops predominate: [[sugarcane]] (''Saccharum spp.'') and [[sugar beet]]s (''Beta vulgaris''), in which sugar can account for 12% to 20% of the plant's dry weight. Minor commercial sugar crops include the [[date palm]] (''Phoenix dactylifera''), [[sorghum]] (''Sorghum vulgare''), and the [[sugar maple]] (''Acer saccharum''). Sucrose is obtained by extraction of these crops with hot water; concentration of the extract gives syrups, from which solid sucrose can be crystallized. In 2017, worldwide production of table sugar amounted to 185 million tonnes.<ref name="prod2017">{{cite news|title=World 2017/18 sugar production, consumption seen at record: USDA|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sugar-usda-supplies/world-2017-18-sugar-production-consumption-seen-at-record-usda-idUSKBN1DH2LV|newspaper=Reuters|author=Marcy Nicholson|date=17 November 2017|access-date=21 December 2019|archive-date=14 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914144035/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sugar-usda-supplies/world-2017-18-sugar-production-consumption-seen-at-record-usda-idUSKBN1DH2LV|url-status=live}}</ref>

Most cane sugar comes from countries with warm climates, because sugarcane does not tolerate frost. Sugar beets, on the other hand, grow only in cooler temperate regions and do not tolerate [[heat wave|extreme heat]]. About 80 percent of sucrose is derived from sugarcane, the rest almost all from sugar beets.

In mid-2018, India and Brazil had about the same production of sugar – 34 million tonnes – followed by the [[European Union]], [[Thailand]], and China as the major producers.<ref name="usda2018">{{cite web |title=Sugar: World Markets and Trade |url=https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/sugar.pdf |publisher=Office of Global Analysis, Foreign Agricultural Service, US Department of Agriculture |access-date=21 December 2018 |date=4 November 2018 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021034740/https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/sugar.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> India, the European Union, and China were the leading domestic consumers of sugar in 2018.<ref name=usda2018/>

Beet sugar comes from regions with cooler climates: northwest and eastern Europe, northern Japan, plus some areas in the United States (including California). In the northern hemisphere, the beet-growing season ends with the start of harvesting around September. Harvesting and processing continues until March in some cases. The availability of processing plant capacity and the weather both influence the duration of harvesting and processing&nbsp;– the industry can store harvested beets until processed, but a frost-damaged beet becomes effectively unprocessable.

The United States sets high sugar prices to support its producers, with the effect that many former purchasers of sugar have switched to [[corn syrup]] (beverage manufacturers) or moved out of the country (candy manufacturers).

The low prices of [[glucose syrup]]s produced from [[wheat]] and corn ([[maize]]) threaten the traditional sugar market. Used in combination with [[artificial sweetener]]s, they can allow drink manufacturers to produce very low-cost goods.