ICUMSA 35 Refined White Sugar from Brazil

Specification last reviewed 19 October 2026.

What is refined white sugar?

Refined white sugar is sugar that has been through a refinery after the mill: the molasses film is washed off the crystal, the remaining non-sugar material and colour are filtered out, and what comes back is crystalline sucrose that is white in the bag and colourless in solution.

"Refined white sugar" on its own is a category, not a specification. Within it, the trade separates grades by colour, measured in ICUMSA units, and the common export grades run from ICUMSA 35 at the clearest end through ICUMSA 45 — London White, the volume grade — to the crystal band at ICUMSA 100 to 150. A contract that says only "refined white sugar" has not yet said what will be delivered. The ICUMSA figure is the term that does that work, and it is the first thing to settle.

This page is the most refined of those grades.

What is ICUMSA 35 sugar?

ICUMSA 35 is refined white cane sugar with a colour of no more than 35 ICUMSA units. It is the most refined grade we export: higher in purity than crystal white sugar, with grains that are drier and clearer.

ICUMSA stands for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis. An ICUMSA figure measures the colour of the sugar in solution, and the trade uses colour as its working proxy for refinement — the lower the number, the whiter and purer the sugar. At 35, this grade sits below even ICUMSA 45, the standard refined export specification.

It is manufactured from sugar cane and is suitable both for direct consumption and for use as a food and beverage ingredient. We export it from Brazil in wholesale quantities, sourced from mills in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goiás.

ICUMSA 35 sugar specifications

One figure is published for this grade — its colour ceiling. The purity figures are deliberately not published as headline numbers here: they are certified for the lot you buy, and for a grade bought precisely because its specification is tight, a brochure figure is the wrong document to rely on.

Analytical specification

Commercial specification

Ask for the certificate of analysis before you contract. For a grade specified at this end of the scale that is not a formality: the certified ash figure is one of the inputs that weights the colour grade itself, as the section on how an ICUMSA figure is determined explains below.

Terms of supply at a glance

Documentation for a cargo is the same set issued for every grade we ship — certificate of purity, ICUMSA certificate, certificate of analysis, certificate of origin through an accredited Brazilian certifier, quality and weight certificates, and a phytosanitary certificate where the destination requires one. The one addition worth asking for on this grade is a pre-shipment inspection against your colour ceiling, because a tight ceiling is only enforceable if somebody measured it before the cargo left.

ICUMSA 35 against crystal white and ICUMSA 45

The distinction between refined sugar and crystal white sugar is the one most often blurred in contracts, so it is worth stating plainly.

Crystal white sugar is high-purity sucrose with dry, white to clear grains, suitable for direct consumption and as a food and beverage ingredient.

Refined sugar at ICUMSA 35 is very high-purity sucrose. Its content is purer, and its grains are drier and clearer, than crystal white. Everything crystal white can do, this grade can do; the reverse is not true where a process is sensitive to residual colour or to moisture pick-up in storage.

Against ICUMSA 45, the step down to 35 is a narrow one in colour terms — ten ICUMSA units — but it is the step that buyers with a tight internal specification care about. ICUMSA 45 is the grade most mills quote by default and the one most readily available; ICUMSA 35 is specified when a customer standard, a pharmacopoeial requirement or a clear-product process demands the extra margin. If your own specification says "refined white sugar" and nothing more, ICUMSA 45 is very likely what you need and the cheaper of the two.

What ICUMSA 35 sugar is used for

• Direct consumption — table and household sugar, including retail repacking.

• Food and beverage manufacturing — as an ingredient wherever the finished product must stay clear or colour-neutral: clear beverages and syrups, white icings and fondants, confectionery, dairy.

• Processes sensitive to moisture — the drier grain reduces caking and bridging in storage and in automated dosing.

• Applications with a tight internal colour specification — where a buyer's own standard, or a downstream customer's, is set below ICUMSA 45.

For bottler-specification beverage material, see beverage-grade refined sugar.

Brazilian and EU ICUMSA designations do not always align

This is the single most useful thing to know before you sign a contract for Brazilian refined sugar, and it catches experienced buyers.

In Brazil, the ICUMSA scale runs the way you would expect: the lower the figure, the whiter and higher-quality the sugar. ICUMSA 45 denotes refined sugar of the highest commercial quality, and grades of lower quality — Special Extra Crystal, for instance — carry higher figures such as 150 and upward.

In the European Union this is not consistently the case. SGS of São Paulo has published specifications for ICUMSA numbers on EU products that run contrary to the Brazilian specifications. The two systems can therefore attach different meanings to the same number, and a contract that names only an ICUMSA figure without naming the system it is read under is ambiguous.

The Brazilian reading — lower number, whiter sugar — is the one confirmed by the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol in Brazil, and it is the reading we quote and contract under. If your purchase documentation has been drafted against an EU specification, raise it with us before contracting and we will reconcile the two so that the grade you receive is the grade you intended to buy.

How an ICUMSA figure is determined

An ICUMSA rating is an international unit expressing the purity of sugar in solution, and it is directly related to the colour of the sugar. It is not a single simple reading. The figure is weighted heavily by ash points — conductivity ash, expressed as a percentage to three decimal places — and further by reflectance grade colour and by solution colour, also referred to as filtered colour.

The practical consequence for a buyer is this: ash content is not a side note to the colour figure, it is one of its main inputs. Two lots can present similarly to the eye and grade differently. That is why the certificate of analysis, not the appearance of a sample, is the document that settles a specification dispute — and why we will send you one for the lot before you contract.

Price, packaging and documentation

Price. We quote on enquiry rather than publishing a figure per tonne. Refined white sugar is priced against the London No. 5 white sugar futures contract, which trades at a premium — the white premium — over the ICE No. 11 raw sugar contract. Your quoted price is that benchmark plus a differential for the grade, the colour specification, packaging, the Incoterm and the destination, plus the timing of the shipment within the Brazilian crop cycle. Quotations are firm for a stated validity period. The mechanism is set out in full in how ICUMSA 45 sugar is priced per tonne, which applies to this grade with a wider differential.

ICUMSA 35 prices above ICUMSA 45, which prices above ICUMSA 100, which prices above the raw grades. The differentials move with the market. If you are not certain the extra refining earns its cost in your application, ask us to quote 35 and 45 side by side — that comparison is cheap to produce and it is the question most buyers of this grade should ask first.

Packaging. 50 kg bags, 1,000 kg jumbo bags or bulk, in 20ft and 40ft containers, with the format confirmed on quotation.

Documentation. Certificate of purity, ICUMSA certificate and certificate of analysis, the last also available on request before contracting, plus certificate of origin, quality and weight certificates and phytosanitary certification where the destination requires it.

Frequently asked questions

What is refined white sugar? Sugar that has been through a refinery as well as a mill, so the molasses film and the remaining colour and non-sugar material have been removed. It is crystalline sucrose, white in the bag and colourless in solution. The category covers several grades, separated by colour in ICUMSA units — ICUMSA 35 and 45 at the clearest end, the crystal band at 100 to 150 above them.

What is ICUMSA 35 sugar? Refined white cane sugar with a colour of no more than 35 ICUMSA units. It is very high-purity sucrose with dry, white to clear grains — purer and drier than crystal white sugar — and is suitable both for direct consumption and as a food and beverage ingredient.

What is the difference between refined sugar and crystal white sugar? Crystal white sugar is high-purity sucrose with dry, white to clear grains. Refined sugar at ICUMSA 35 is purer still, and its grains are drier and clearer. Both are suitable for direct consumption and for manufacturing; the refined grade is specified where residual colour or moisture would affect the process. See refined white sugar crystals for that grade.

Is ICUMSA 35 better than ICUMSA 45? It is more refined — lower colour, higher purity, drier grain — and it costs more per tonne. Whether it is better depends on your application. ICUMSA 45 is the standard refined export grade and is sufficient for most refined-white uses. ICUMSA 35 is specified when an internal or customer standard sits below 45.

Why do Brazilian and EU ICUMSA numbers sometimes disagree? Because the two systems have been documented differently. In Brazil, a lower ICUMSA figure means whiter, higher-quality sugar, and that reading is confirmed by the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol. SGS of São Paulo has published ICUMSA specifications for EU products that run contrary to the Brazilian ones. We quote and contract on the Brazilian reading. If your paperwork is drafted against an EU specification, tell us before contracting so the two can be reconciled.

What does the ICUMSA number actually measure? Colour in solution, used as a measure of purity. The figure is weighted mainly by conductivity ash — expressed as a percentage to three decimal places — and further by reflectance grade colour and by solution or filtered colour.

What is the sucrose content and polarisation of ICUMSA 35? Both are certified per lot on the certificate of analysis, and the sucrose figure is higher than the 99.8% published for ICUMSA 45. Request the certificate for the material you are buying and we will send the certified figures before you contract. Naming a headline polarisation for a grade defined by colour would tell you nothing you could enforce.

What granulation can you supply? Granulation is stated on the certificate of analysis and can be specified in the contract, by sieve analysis and mean aperture in millimetres. If your dosing line needs a particular grain size, put it in the enquiry rather than taking the mill's default.

What is the price of ICUMSA 35 sugar? Quoted at the time of enquiry. Refined white is priced against the London No. 5 contract, itself at a premium to ICE No. 11, and the figure then moves with volume, Incoterms, destination port, packaging and specification. ICUMSA 35 prices above ICUMSA 45. Send us your volume and destination port for a firm quotation.

Can you ship ICUMSA 35 in containers? Yes, in 20ft and 40ft containers, in 50 kg bags, 1,000 kg jumbo bags or bulk. The minimum quantity is confirmed with your quotation.

Where is it sourced? From mills in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goiás, and loaded at Santos or Paranaguá.

Request a quotation

Send us four things and we will come back with a priced offer and the full certified specification:

1. Grade — ICUMSA 35, or the grades you want quoted against each other

2. Volume — tonnage, and whether it is one shipment or a contract across several

3. Destination port and the Incoterm you want — FOB, CFR or CIF

4. Your written specification, if your colour, ash or granulation limits are set internally

Submit the enquiry form below or contact us. If your purchase specification was drafted against an EU ICUMSA reading rather than a Brazilian one, say so in your enquiry — it is quicker to reconcile before the quotation than after the contract.