sugar price

[JamezF]

Methanol is twice so expencive as gasoline. Once methanon was distilled from French wine.

I'd be surprised. Methanol is a toxin that causes blindness by damaging the optic nerves and even a fairly small amount can be fatal. If there were enough in wine to be worth distilling there'd be an awful lot of people blind or dying as a result of drinking relatively small amounts of wine. I'd guess the actual amount of methanol in a bottle of wine is less than 0.1%, red wine having more than white. There are easier ways to make methanol that have been known for hundreds of years.

Ethanol on the other hand has been distilled from French wine for hundreds of years and still is, because that's how products such as Cognac and Armagnac are made. If you want pure ethanol though, you can't get it by direct distillation because of a physical property of ethanol (it's an azeotrope). By coincidence it was in the news only a few weeks back that the French government are buying up French wine in order to produce ethanol as a way of supporting their wine-makers who are struggling due to reduced sales.

In the UK it's commonly said that home-distilling wine or beer to make spirits is dangerous because the end product can make you go blind and some (allegedly more knowledgeable) people attribute that to increasing the concentration of methanol. This is largely a load of rubbish. It's really not that hard to get right. The far bigger risk from home distillation is probably burning yourself and your house to the ground.

I've also heard stories (I've no idea whether they're true) that there was an increase in the number of people going blind during Prohibition in the US where it's attributed to "moonshiners" increasing the alcohol content of their product by adding industrial methanol. I'm unconvinced, but it's perhaps not impossible.

James

 

[jarmo henttu]

Yes, I meant ethanol

 

[madasafish]

Yes, I meant ethanol

"

Meanwhile, sugar ethanol prices in Brazil held near one-month highs from mid-August as oil prices extended their rally, driving cane crushers to divert production towards biofuel blenders and reducing sweetener supply in global markets."​

https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/sugar Brazil and India are the world's largest sugar producers.

Top 10 Countries That Produce the Most Sugar (in metric tons — UN FAO 2019):*​

1. India — 34,300,000
2. Brazil — 27,732,026
3. Thailand — 14,866,800
4. China — 11,760,000
5. United States — 7.374,045
6. Russia — 7,309,657
7. Mexico — 6,710,121
8. France — 4,897,000
9. Pakistan — 4,881,225
10. Australia — 4,516,700

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/sugar-producing-countries

 

[jarmo henttu]

90% out of global free market sugar is from Brazil.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That's nuts!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I'd be surprised. Methanol is a toxin that causes blindness by damaging the optic nerves and even a fairly small amount can be fatal. If there were enough in wine to be worth distilling there'd be an awful lot of people blind or dying as a result of drinking relatively small amounts of wine. I'd guess the actual amount of methanol in a bottle of wine is less than 0.1%, red wine having more than white. There are easier ways to make methanol that have been known for hundreds of years.

Ethanol on the other hand has been distilled from French wine for hundreds of years and still is, because that's how products such as Cognac and Armagnac are made. If you want pure ethanol though, you can't get it by direct distillation because of a physical property of ethanol (it's an azeotrope). By coincidence it was in the news only a few weeks back that the French government are buying up French wine in order to produce ethanol as a way of supporting their wine-makers who are struggling due to reduced sales.

In the UK it's commonly said that home-distilling wine or beer to make spirits is dangerous because the end product can make you go blind and some (allegedly more knowledgeable) people attribute that to increasing the concentration of methanol. This is largely a load of rubbish. It's really not that hard to get right. The far bigger risk from home distillation is probably burning yourself and your house to the ground.

I've also heard stories (I've no idea whether they're true) that there was an increase in the number of people going blind during Prohibition in the US where it's attributed to "moonshiners" increasing the alcohol content of their product by adding industrial methanol. I'm unconvinced, but it's perhaps not impossible.

James

As a boy I seem to recall being told fusel oils were the culprit for the blindness effects. Apparently they came off the still first so the first few drops had to be thrown away by the "good" moonshiners. Of course that could be more moonshine

 

[Ambler]

As a boy I seem to recall being told fusel oils were the culprit for the blindness effects. Apparently they came off the still first so the first few drops had to be thrown away by the "good" moonshiners. Of course that could be more moonshine

Popcorn Sutton will set you right! About 59:00 for how much to chuck

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I remember boarding a small Russian reefer vessel in Lerwick that served the Klondikers working locally, we found they had almost thirty gallons of compass alcohol in their not very secure bond - I just wondered aloud whether it would just be easier and cheaper to just repair the leak in the compass when the chief engineer sidled up to me (he'd just been ashore to buy a bottle of decent scotch) and whispered in my ear "it's not for the compass - the daft buggers drink it mixed with orange juice!!"

 

[JamezF]

As a boy I seem to recall being told fusel oils were the culprit for the blindness effects. Apparently they came off the still first so the first few drops had to be thrown away by the "good" moonshiners. Of course that could be more moonshine

Nah, fusel oils are the heavier fractions, so they're what gets chucked out at the end of the run (what's traditionally known as the "feints", or "tails"). I'm not aware that they're harmful in the volumes that they're normally likely to be consumed and they're likely to be present to some degree in the likes of whisky and rum (maybe even any product that's made using a pot still rather than a reflux still).

I believe that either or both of the foreshots/heads and feints/tails are sometimes added to subsequent distillation runs, but I'm not sure how advisable that would be unless it was in a reflux still.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm not aware that they're harmful in the volumes that they're normally likely to be consumed and they're likely to be present to some degree in the likes of whisky and rum

that's why I hate polluting whisky with water - for me it accentuates the oils and gives the drink an oily feel. I believe that 'traditional' vodka drinkers would put a pinch of ground black pepper on to their neat voddy to absorb the fusel oils (according to Fleming, that's how James Bond drank his vodka)

 

[philipm]

Remember years ago whilst staying in Ukraine one of the neigbours house caught fire.They had been making Samohonka and the fumes ignited in the roof .They had been sampling the product and fell asleep the whole village turned out to help put the fire out.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Remember years ago whilst staying in Ukraine one of the neigbours house caught fire.They had been making Samohonka and the fumes ignited in the roof .They had been sampling the product and fell asleep the whole village turned out to help put the fire out.

or maybe to save the remaining product?

 

[Moobee]

I remember boarding a small Russian reefer vessel in Lerwick that served the Klondikers working locally, we found they had almost thirty gallons of compass alcohol in their not very secure bond - I just wondered aloud whether it would just be easier and cheaper to just repair the leak in the compass when the chief engineer sidled up to me (he'd just been ashore to buy a bottle of decent scotch) and whispered in my ear "it's not for the compass - the daft buggers drink it mixed with orange juice!!"

When I worked for a major cosmetics & fragrance company, we did a roaring trade in Aftershave in the Arab states. Not because they liked smelling nice, they use to mix it with Coca Cola (other noxious mixers are available...)

 

[dougiemore]

I have been quoted 59p /kg for 900kg delivered. Gone up a lot from last year. Good old brezit!

Bought some from Home Bargains last week @ 59p/kg bag, it was on offer.

 

[Cuckmere couple]

i thought i did well at paying 82p/kg

 

[luap321]

Bought some from Home Bargains last week @ 59p/kg bag, it was on offer.

its 89p this week but still the cheapest i could find

 

[PeaBee]

Have always purchased British sugar ( feel it's a bit hypocritical to not) but disappointed with British sugar this year

 

[WoodenBeam]

Have always purchased British sugar ( feel it's a bit hypocritical to not) but disappointed with British sugar this year

That is just so typical of the world we live in - British Sugar supplying a non UK product………I’m sure they’ll be a reason but equally I’m sure there’s a reason why it shouldn’t.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I’m sure they’ll be a reason

possibly the fact that since Brexit, the banning of certain neonicotinoid treatments and the cessation of subsidies many beet farmers have stopped producing sugarbeet

 

[Jimmy]

possibly the fact that since Brexit, the banning of certain neonicotinoid treatments and the cessation of subsidies many beet farmers have stopped producing sugarbeet

Additionally the 2022 yield was low due to summer heat/drought.