ICUMSA 45 sugar: the specification to require and the offers to reject

White “ICUMSA 45” sugar comes up constantly in international trading offers, including fictitious ones: the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has already warned about suspect sugar transactions. Yet the name itself describes a single criterion: the colour of the sugar in solution. A sound contract completes it with a quantified analytical specification, the test method for each criterion and independent inspection at loading.

What the ICUMSA index measures

ICUMSA stands for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis, which publishes the sugar industry’s reference test methods. A sugar’s ICUMSA index is its colour in solution, expressed in ICUMSA units (IU): the absorbance of a filtered sugar solution is measured at 420 nm, then converted into IU. The lower the figure, the whiter the sugar. For white sugars, method GS2-10 applies up to 50 IU, with no pH adjustment. Method GS9-8, which works at pH 7.0 and covers up to 16,000 IU, from raw to white sugar, holds official reference status and is recommended in any dispute.

ICUMSA 45, 100, 150 and VHP: different products

In trade usage, “ICUMSA 45” means a refined white sugar whose colour in solution does not exceed 45 IU. That ceiling has a regulatory reference: the standard quality for white sugar defined in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 caps the colouring of the solution at 6 points, one point being worth 7.5 ICUMSA units, i.e. 45 IU. The Codex Standard for Sugars (CXS 212-1999) is less strict, allowing up to 60 IU for white sugar.

• ICUMSA 45 — refined white sugar, colour of 45 IU at most, polarisation of at least 99.7 °Z under both Codex and the EU standard quality.
• ICUMSA 100 and 150 — trade names for less decolourised white sugars. Codex defines a “plantation or mill white sugar” of at least 99.5 °Z and at most 150 IU. The name is not enough: the numerical ceiling is what must appear in the contract.
• VHP (Very High Polarization) — raw cane sugar whose crystals remain coated with a film of molasses, usually destined for refining. Its polarisation is high for a raw sugar, the benchmark raw cane sugar futures contract (Sugar No. 11) being based on 96 degrees, but its colour is far above that of a white sugar and is measured with method GS9-8.

The specification sheet to require

The table below sets the two most frequently cited public references, Codex standard CXS 212-1999 and the EU standard quality, against the points the contract must quantify. The Codex composition criteria sit in an annex intended for voluntary application between trading partners; the importing country’s regulatory limits always prevail.

Three criteria vary markedly from one contract to another: moisture, sulphur dioxide and grain size. The Codex standard was amended in 2019 and 2022; the 15 mg/kg SO₂ ceiling cited here comes from its 2001 version and must be checked against the text in force and the importing country’s regulations, never against the sales sheet alone. Finally, a specification is only enforceable if it names the test method, the laboratory and the sampling point, which in practice is loading.

The warning signs of a fraudulent offer

Fictitious sugar offers follow a recognisable pattern. In 2010, the ICC’s Financial Investigation Bureau reported suspect financial instruments relating to sugar shipments: prices well below market, misquoted ICC banking rules, signatures that did not match the names, unreachable contact details and a destination port too shallow for the vessel announced. Taken together, the following signs justify ending the conversation.

• Very large volumes, tens of thousands of tonnes a month over a year, at a price well below market quotations.
• A procedure requiring the buyer, before any verifiable commitment from the seller, to provide a letter of intent (LOI) or irrevocable purchase order, proof of funds (POF) or a bank comfort letter (BCL).
• A request for a standby letter of credit (SBLC) or another bank instrument issued in the seller’s favour before the seller has proved the goods exist.
• Advance fees under any name: file fees, commission, inspection fees or quantity “reservation” fees.
• A so-called “reverse” procedure, in which the buyer commits and hands over banking documents before receiving any proof of product.
• Informal bank checks, known as a “soft probe”, demanded to “qualify” the buyer outside any formal bank-to-bank exchange.
• Inconsistent documents: a refinery that cannot be traced, capacity out of line with the volume offered, a chain of intermediaries with no written mandate from the refinery.

Securing the purchase

1. Check the refinery directly: legal existence, production capacity, right to export, and contact made through details obtained independently of the intermediaries. The ICC’s commercial crime services can verify documents such as letters of credit and bank guarantees.
2. Pay by irrevocable documentary credit subject to the ICC’s UCP 600, opened after a full contract is signed. Payment then depends on compliant documents: bill of lading, invoice, certificate of origin, health certificate, and quality and weight certificates issued by the inspection body.
3. Appoint an independent third-party inspection body at loading: sampling to an agreed plan, analysis of colour, polarisation, moisture and ash, and checks on weight, bag condition and container seals.
4. Start with a limited trial lot before any annual commitment, and pay no fee without an identified contractual counterparty.

This article does not constitute legal or banking advice; the regulations of the destination country prevail.

SELA INTERNATIONAL LTD states in every sugar offer the analytical specification, the reference ICUMSA method and the arrangements for pre-shipment inspection, entrusted to an independent third-party body whose full report is passed to the buyer. Payment terms appear in the offer and rely on the standard instruments of international trade.