It has been 10 years since we started our journey with The Dubai Sugar Conference. A decade of changes and challenges, of breaking barriers, of embracing a new reality. If there was ever a need to steer the sugar world with intelligence, it is now. It’s time to recognize and reimagine “Intelligence” as the force of good it can be.

We warmly welcome all of you to The Dubai Sugar Conference 2026, to be held from Monday, February 2 to Thursday, February 5, 2026, at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City.

Since its inception in 2016, the Conference has gone from strength to strength, with 1,100 delegates from 75 countries attending the event in 2025.

Last year, we spoke about "From Evolution to Revolution – The Road Ahead", where we focussed on understanding the new reality and the urgency to navigate the future. Since then, we’ve swiftly transitioned to a world in an even greater state of flux. The upending of the post-war global trading system caused by the chaos of tariffs, the politicization of trade, the resultant "axis of upheaval" in global alliances, threats to supply chains and investments, the continuing concerns around conflicts and climate – there’s a lot in our sugar bowl!

Yet perhaps most significantly, what's about to change things to an extent hard to imagine, is "Intelligence"... its new explorations and expressions... the fast-evolving story of AI. What could be a more relevant theme then for The Dubai Sugar Conference 2026 than “Intelligence Reimagined”, as we look through this lens at many of the issues and opportunities that face the world of sugar?

The Sugar Scene
Challenges abound…

The size of Brazil’s Centre-South 2025/26 cane crop, the quality of the cane and the industry’s sugar-alcohol ratio have never been more under the spotlight. The overall estimates for the 2026/27 Brazil crop are wide and large – varying from 590 to 665 million tonnes – pressuring prices.

2024/25 has India with the smallest crop in many years, and exports restricted to sub 1 million tonnes. The growing domestic ethanol programme has, until now, been largely based on grains. What will be the impact of lower ethanol tender allocations on the sugar sector? Will the decent monsoon rains lead to a full recovery in cane and sucrose production in 2025/26?

Thailand has also benefitted from better rainfall and a small increase in cane and sugar production is expected in 2025/26. Will the new Chinese import regulations for liquid sugar and blends enable the flows to continue after the 2025 disruption?

Indonesia’s government has shaken up its sugar refining sector, and the country has imported significantly less sugar compared to the preceding year. The authorities are exercising greater control over imports and encouraging local production. Ranked among the top two importers in the world, how will these actions in Indonesia influence the global sugar balance?

In the EU, good weather and a smooth beet slicing campaign suggests above-average yields, but the total area under beet will fall by close to 10% against the preceding year. How will this affect production and exports in 2025/26? And what will be the impact on production with the area potentially reducing by a further 3-4% in 2026/27?

In the US, the increased import tariffs come at a time when there is political pressure to use more cane sugar, and when the market remains in a structural deficit. The expected beet crop should be large (possibly record), and will offset some of the tariff impacts, but there will still be implications for the Mexico-US trade.

The Mexican crop struggled to recover in 2025, and while better rainfall should help 2026 production, it’s likely their export flows will also be affected by the tariff changes.

And what about the consumption picture seen through the fog of lower growth rates, tariffs and the rise of GLP-1 drugs?

The global supply-demand situation will see the world move from a deficit in 2024/25 to a modest surplus in 2025/26, with much of this driven by larger crops in India and Thailand, but just how much of this can make its way into the market remains to be seen. There’s a current sombre mood on prices. How long can speculators continue to hold or increase their negative bets?

...but Intelligence can tilt the balance

Against this background, it’s the right moment to meet and get into the heart of things, embrace technology, making bold changes that drive value. We’ll deep dive into the issues, understanding all that confronts us, with the help of the best minds in the business at The Dubai Sugar Conference 2026.

It’s time for Intelligence Reimagined. It’s time to grasp the trends and technological opportunities that we can integrate, applied to the world of sugar, where the future states will see the transformative power of AI becoming ever more pervasive.