Sugar imports to Ireland were valued at €377m in 2017. Over the last decade, the value of these imports has grown by more than two-thirds (+68%), while the corresponding volume of these imports has grown by almost 60% to reach just over 460,000t last year.

However, this topline figure is not just for imports of raw sugar but also comprises imports of a whole host of sugar-related products that fall into the sugar category for imports, including syrups (€110m), honey (€14m), glucose and isoglucose (€15.5m), and even sweets, confectionary and chewing gum (€100m).

The reality is that imports of raw sugar in its different forms during 2017 were valued at just under €32m, while imports of processed white sugar stood at €55m.

Imports of the various forms of molasses were just over €46m.

Figures from Euromonitor show that the size of the retail market for sugar and sweeteners in Ireland was 31,300t in 2017. This market has declined by 16% since 2012, when it stood at 37,200t, reflecting the consumer backlash against sugar in their diets.

Euromonitor is forecasting the Irish retail market for sugar and sweeteners to shrink a further 5% in the coming years to fall below 30,000t by 2022.

Bioethanol

Ireland imported €46m of ethanol in 2017. This is down to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which mandates that 10% of the transport fuel used by member states must come from biofuels by 2020.

Despite the EU directive, transport fuels in Ireland are blended with just 5% ethanol. This is expected to be raised to 10% before 2020, which would double Ireland’s ethanol import requirements in the coming years.

However, in the age of the electric car, the long-term fundamentals of the biofuels industry are questionable. Almost 50% of the world’s oil consumption is used in cars. The shift towards electric vehicles will only continue to gain momentum year after year, particularly as car makers such as Volvo, Nissan, VW and Toyota begin to produce electric cars for the mass market. As such the days of the combustible engine look to be in decline, which raises serious questions for the viability of the global biofuels industry.