Laica sets 2026-2027 sugar quota and prices to be paid to sugar mills

The Board of Directors of the Agricultural Industrial Sugar Cane League (Laica) set the National Production Quota for sugar for the 2026-2027 harvest at 6,645,752 bags of 50 kilograms of sugar with 96° polarization, as well as the prices per bag and per kilogram that the mills must pay to cane producers. The agreements were adopted unanimously and definitively in ordinary session No. 794 on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, and were published this Wednesday, November 4, in La Gaceta No. 209, pages 93-95, with official references IN202601137003 and IN202601137032.

The quota calculation and its legal basis

The quota is derived from the national sugar consumption recorded in the 2025-2026 harvest, converted to 96° polarization sugar and multiplied by the Fixed Factor 1.5: 4,430,501 multiplied by 1.5 equals 6,645,752 bags. The decision is supported by articles 92, 93, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103 and concordant articles of Law 7818, the Organic Law of the Sugar Cane Agriculture and Industry of September 2, 1998, and article 118 for the distribution among mills.

Of the total, the largest portion corresponds to sugar for national consumption and its reserves. The breakdown by type, in bags of 96° polarization, is as follows:

• Plantation White: 4,025,825 bags, which include 300,573 bags of special sugar for the Liquid Sugar Plant (Laica BAL-12), equivalent to 290,000 bags of 99.5°.
• Special White 150: 17,554 bags for the domestic market and 150,790 for export.
• Refined 70: 237,145 bags; Refined 45: 117,355 export bags.
• Domestic Industrial Zukra: 128,955 bags.
• Export sugars: Organic Golden 4,965, Export Organic 62,063, and Demerara 65,021 bags.

The agreement warns that these quantities may be substituted by other types of sugar that are justified to satisfy market demand, and that for special sugars, the allocation corresponds to commitments expressly assumed by the mills.

Prices per bag and per kilogram

The Laica notice sets the value per 50-kilogram bag of 99.5° polarization plantation white sugar to be paid to the mill under the quota regime at ₡16,746.568211, and for 96° raw sugar at ₡16,076.705483. Additionally, it establishes the price per bag and the value per kilogram of 96° polarization sugar for the independent producer, along with the participation percentage and the value per kilogram for over-quota production:

• CATSA: ₡201,789738 per bundle to the mill; ₡8,246.91 per kilogram to the producer; 49.373%; ₡81.4344 in surplus.
• Cutris: ₡201,791969; ₡7,986.52; 48.595%; ₡77.6213.
• Juan Viñas: ₡201,844098; ₡7,921.24; 48.400%; ₡76.6781.
• Victoria: ₡201,842684, with no participation or surplus value reported.
• Quebrada Azul: ₡201,841010; ₡8,038.72; 48.751%; ₡78.3793.
• Palmar: ₡201,827671; ₡8,523.11; 50.197%; ₡85.5674.
• El Viejo: ₡201,977355; ₡8,261.18; 49.415%; ₡81.6457.
• Taboga: ₡202,111100; ₡8,368.73; 49.736%; ₡83.2461.
• El General: ₡201,780246; ₡7,929.04; 48.424%; ₡76,7906.

Peremptory period of eight days for settlement

Based on Article 101 of Law 7818, the notice reminds all mills that they must pay producers the final settlement for sugar with 96° polarization contained in the delivered cane, both under the quota regime and the surplus regime, no later than 8 (eight) days after the first publication of these agreements in a national circulation newspaper. The communication is signed by Édgar Herrera Echandi, Executive and Marketing Director, ID 1-0522-0490.

Impact on the sugarcane sector

The fixing of the quota and prices defines the income of all sugarcane producers in the country and the volume that the nine mills—CATSA, Cutris, Juan Viñas, Victoria, Quebrada Azul, Palmar, El Viejo, Taboga, and El General—must grind during the next harvest. The eight-day deadline for the final settlement is the most sensitive point for sugarcane growers, as the cash flow of thousands of independent producers and the chambers that represent them before Laica depends on its compliance.

Source: La Gaceta, No. 209, Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Miscellaneous Documents, pp. 93-95 (official reference: IN202601137003 and IN202601137032).